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This is certainly an excellent ripe, and a cut above even really good ripes. The mouthfeel is wonderful, thick and full. It is really, really smooth even at this young age. It’s got all the best players flavorwise – coffee, dark chocolate, a touch of bitter. The Qi is stimulating but not overpowering. This tea is just something to experience for yourself, it is one of the best ripes I’ve ever tried.

As to the price, sorry but it is over the top for me. It’s bascially the equivalent of $125 for a full sized cake. Is this 4 times as good as Scott’s house ripes? Not to me. This is a super good tea, but I will not shell out close to $400 for a 1k brick. I’m glad a bought a sample and tried it.

This is a great tea. Nicely aged, very clean tasting. It’s simple but good. A bit pricey but for a well aged shu it is not a bad deal.

I’m just starting to try some Haiwan ripes. This one was surprisingly good. The first steeps were a little rough, but it smoothed out very nicely. Just a touch of smoke. Very tasty!

Anyone have a favorite ripe from Haiwan?

This is an interesting tea. Like the description says, I can taste different styles. The first few steeps tasted like half aged library book and half newer chocolatey Scott style ripe. In later steeps the newer ripe flavor was more dominant. Definitely tasty and high quality, and unusual.

I’ve ordered samples of all of Scott’s 2018 ripes (five have been released so far this year). I will try to review them all. I tried Lucy a while back (and reviewed it), and it was very good. This one is also very good, but it is a different style than is typical. I’d say its defining characteristics are sweet and simple. It is pretty smooth with almost no astringency/bitterness. It is not very complex, but it has a very unique flavor. It has a sweetness I associate with lao cha tou (ripe nuggets). It has a nice feel and good flavor, and solid qi; the sweet is front and center, with burnt coffee and a hint of chocolate in the background. I don’t think I’d reach for this very often, but I will definitely get a cake or two. I bet it will age very nicely, and will be very smooth and straightforward.

Another very fine tea bargain from Puershop. This is an uncomplicated yet high quality ripe. It is quite smooth, with little fermentation flavor, a medium heavy level of fermentation, and a decent caffeine boost. It doesn’t have too much character, and fades a bit more quickly than I would like, but it is a very good tea. It is $11 for a 200g cake at the moment, making it a great daily drinker.

Not a bad tea, though I didn’t find it too interesting. Kind of thick, muted flavor, not very noteworthy.

This was an amazing value from Puershop. Where can you find a good quality shu for under $20 for a full sized cake these days? It is a solid tea – fairly smooth, robust, and straightforward. A little chocolate, a little bitterness, long lasting. It is supposedly wild arbor, but who knows. A great daily drinker.

I recently when on a ripe sample buying spree at Puershop. I bought 20 samples. Pretty cheap to do at puershop, though their teas are often mediocre. This was one of their premium ripes. It was pretty good, smooth and nicely fermented. It did lack character and complexity, but it was still a solid tea. But the price is too high at $47. I would definitely buy some if it were $30.