For being a fake-aged shou pu’erh, this was not bad at all!
(Yes, they even say it on their website: “This particular tea is part of the new school of pu’erh production. Called a “cooked” (shou) pu’erh, it’s heated and fully dried to simulate aging.” Note: “simulate.”)
The price is really good, too. It certainly does not quite have the same earthiness as a true, aged-underground, shou would, but they have done a good job of emulating a 6- or 8-year aged pu’erh.
The aroma of the tea is similar to a normal shou pu’erh, though the aroma of the wet leaves differs a bit, probably due to the lack of true earthiness.
In terms of resteepability, it is decent, though not amazing, but I was not expecting a whole load of steeps, so getting four decent steeps from a gong fu session with a gaiwan was good.
