Yunnan Longrun Pu-erh Tea Cake -Qinwei(Year 2012,357g)(12.59oz)， Fermented, Cooked Puerh Tea Cake

I drink shou puerh every morning. Many puerh have a calming effect, as does this one. This one does not produce tongue tingle, gum tingle, lip tingle, clearing nostrils as some shou puerh can do. There is a deep syrupy quality; unified taste is good, but not many taste directions mingled together as in some teas. Ultimately perfectly adequate as a shou puerh.

Dry, this tea doesn't smell too bad. The packaging is also pretty nice.Once steeped, tea smells like fermentation with a hint of fishiness, but not a fresh fishiness. It tastes pretty much like how it smells. Other people I've given it to don't have a problem, but it offends my senses.However, it has good "cha qi"/"cha zui" (head change), as they say... better than a quality oolong or matcha.You can kind of fix the smell/taste by adding a hibiscus rosehip tea bag. Tea bags work way better for the first few steeps since loose herbal tea takes a long time (rooibos combines well for a good buzz).I tried light butter (with margarine) in it, to simulate having it Mongol style. It wasn't too bad.Milk sucks with it.

This tea is wonderful. I am a fan of the style to begin with; I like how difficult it is to oversteep and never becomes bitter or astringent. To the extent that caffeine is ever different from one drink to another, this tea has (for me at least) a very consistent and relatively mild stimulating effect. The taste is great for me but I do slightly sweeten and add soy milk most times. I also enjoy my own 'ritual' of chipping off and preparing it. Even bought some as a gift for a friend and had good feedback as well.