After a rinse the leaves smell like pear and forest. The rinse infusion tastes very light. The taste starts out a bit like prune and is slightly woody and smokey in the finish.
The first infusion is really tasty. Lightly smokey at first with a mid sip of sweet fruit, orange peel and a bit of honeysuckle. There’s a long lingering taste of orange peel after the sip.
The second infusion is a bit more tart and reminds me of orange again with notes of green olive. The next infusion is even more tart and with a bit of a bitterness in the finish. There is less distinguishable flavor overall and more the sensations of tartness and bitterness. Subsequent infusions taste similar but the flavor continues to pale. The tartness wanes but the light bitterness stays.
This Puer was very tightly compressed, and it took several infusions to really come apart. The first few infusions of this tea were a real delight and what I’ve come to expect from MGH, but I didn’t feel it performed as well in later infusions. The young bitter Puer qualities seem to lurch forward. It isn’t my favorite from that factory but was definitely a nice sample to try.
Flavors: Dried Fruit, Honeysuckle, Orange, Smoke, Tart
