I should preface this with the fact that I am probably not a good person to get advice from regarding shengs. I’ve only tried a handful and have only found one or two that even agree with me. Having said that, I’m not a quitter and I keep trying new shengs to see what I might enjoy.
I sampled some of this from the Beginners Puerh TTB. I drank some of it with my wife while we were playing cribbage. There was definitely an apricot/stone fruit type of scent to the dry leaves. The wet leaves exacerbated this effect.
The flavor on the first few steeps was light and slightly sweet. However, it turned a bit bitter near the 3rd or 4th steep. Not overpoweringly so, just enough to let you know it was there and detract from any of the lighter sweetness present. We did not see this one through and ended our session fairly early on with it. It just didn’t speak to us. For the half session or so that I did have with it, it provided a warming energy that I imagine would have gotten stronger if I had drank more. Also (and take this with grain of salt as I have a temperamental tummy), I noticed it made my stomach a little sour. Nothing too horrible but again, I only drank half a session and the stomach pangs were present.
Overall, I can see how this is a quality tea and many people would enjoy it. But, with my unrefined sheng tongue, it didn’t do much for me that was worth it. Having said that, I do have a 4 or 5g sample left if anyone would be interested.
Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Smoke
