Finally decided to test out this sample I’ve had for a while, got it from Yunnan Sourcing in the dark tea club a while back. This has aged quite a while now (12 years).
I steeped this in a yixing after breaking a little piece off. My first two steeps were around 30 seconds. I found the tea to be very mild and light in flavor but around the end of the second steep it became a bit muddy.
IMO this benefited from a longer steep of about 60 seconds (or maybe I just need to use more tea next time). It took on a definite coffee flavor with a slight bitterness, some tobacco notes as well as fruit. It became the best around the 4th steep.
I am not wild about this, I think due to the bitter quality but it’s worth trying if that is something you like in a shu pu’erh.
sometimes bitterness can be pleasant ;)