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I recently acquired a few pu-erh cakes from boychik, and this is one of them. I didn’t sample it, but given the description of the tea and my experience with YS and similar teas, I was pretty sure I’d like it and I wasn’t mistaken. This 5 year old tea impressed me quite a bit already in my first session with it. I would summarize it as having a fairly unique and complex aroma, pungent yet balanced taste, and a thick buttery mouthfeel.

The dry leaf smell has notes of aromatic wood and spices like cinnamon. It is a very clean and somewhat sweet aroma that I can’t get enough of. From the wet leaves, I get scents like fresh hazelnut, petrichor, and parsley.

Already the rinse makes a strong impression with strong umami. It tastes of chicken broth, fresh bamboo, and butter. The mouthfeel after swallowing is very interesting too – oily, slick and slightly drying. Subsequent infusions become progressively more bitter and pungent. They have more of a floral quality with a bit of fruitiness that reminds me of carambola and lemongrass. After the peak, the taste profile gets more creamy and I can detect some very light smokiness. The aftertaste stays for a long time and evolves quite a bit. It is nutty and aromatic, with a cooling sensation in the throat.

As for the mouthfeel, it starts soft, drying and buttery, but later becomes more active and bubbly. In this session, I didn’t detect a particularly strong cha qi, but I do think the tea helped declutter my mind. I look forward to the future progression of this new item in my line-up.