2006 Loose-leaf Thai Raw Pu-erh Tea

- This is a second review, to find out how different this tea tastes now that it is a couple of decades old -
Brief (5-10 seconds) steeps in 90 Celsius water.
Liquor is a clear dark-golden caramel in color.
Taste has a raisin-like fruitiness at the front, followed by a woody date-like sweetness in aftertaste, no bitterness, long finish.
Mouthfeel is somewhat dry and sticky, with no astringency.
Wet leaves are dark bronze in color with some olive green hue, giving off an addictive sweet aroma of brown sugar with a hint of smokiness.
Flavor intensity starts to mellow down by the 7th/8th infusion, thus best to steep longer from here onwards.
A longer (1 minute) steep gives a deeper color hue to the liquor, a bolder woody sweetness in the aftertaste, and still no bitterness detected.
Empty cup leaves a faint fruity-sweet smell.
To me the taste difference between 2022 review and now is almost none. Both give a similar sweetness in aroma and aftertaste, and still a pleasant old sheng puerh to enjoy, especially on a cloudy/rainy day.

Brief (few seconds) steeps in 90 Celsius water.
Liquor has an-almost clear dark golden color.
Taste is fruity to the likes of raisins, with a sweet woody note resembles honey and caramel.
Flavor is rounded with a sweet aftertaste and long finish.
Mouthfeel is somewhat dry and sticky, activating salivation.
Wet leaves are dark olive-green and brown tones with stems, giving off a woody burnt sugar aroma.
This tea is pleasant to drink and withstands many infusions.

for the price, kinda good.
it isn't on par though with the 2005 loose, or the other mid-2000 HTC ..
for example, it feels a little faded compared to the 2005 loose..

it is still made from good Thai puer matetrial, so you get a lot of the same characteristics,
and the price makes it compelling,
so I would definitely recommend to give it a try!

Very nice aged tea. Dried fruit, camphor and smoke all in one session. Excellent value.

I really loved this tea. It has a complex taste of tobacco and sweet woodiness that isn't subtle at all. The viscosity is likened to maple syrup. I got a relaxed alertness from this tea, mix that with the strong flavors and that makes for a great start to a morning.