2014 “TEASIDE 0175” Raw Pu-erh Tea

Brewed 5grams/100ml, starting at 90 Celsius, first few steeps around 10 seconds, increasing gradually the temperature and brewing time (to over 1 minute).
The tea is nice, relatively complex and has a mild and pleasant bitterness. Flavor wise: fruity (baked fruits), caramel, slightly woody, slightly nutty (it reminds me of roasted almonds), slightly acidic. Aftertaste is pleasantly mouth-coating, slightly cooling.
I agree the tea is a bit "light", in the sense that the mouthfeel lacks a certain richness, and the Qi is a bit shallow and lacks smoothness, but there is plenty of flavor and the tea has character.

- This is a second review, to find out how different the tea tastes now that it is a decade old -
Brief (5-10 seconds) steeps in 90 Celsius water.
Liquor is a clear pale pinkish-amber in color.
Taste is very mild and clean, and gives a short aftertaste that has a bitter-floral finish.
Mouthfeel is light with no astringency.
Wet leaves are olive green in color with a brownish hue, giving off a mild aroma of a green stone-fruit.
A longer (1 minute) steep in the next infusion gives a slight deeper hue to the liquor, but the flavor remains flat with only a slight astringency as an addition.
I can't detect the same fruity-spiced-tartness note that I tasted back in 2021, as if this tea no longer has a flavor.
Whatever flavor there is, it seems to remain constant since the 1st infusion and never developed any intensity. I'm quite perplexed by this.

Comment by TEASIDE:
Your storage may be the problem. Then again, fruity flavors invariably turn to woody flavors as they age. I'll try this tea at my place and add to my comment.

This lighter tasting sheng has a floral note mixed in with fruitiness.
Wet leaves smell like green stone fruits with a touch of honey.
The brew gives a gentle sweet aftertaste that comes with a spiced tartness and a hint of bitterness.
A presence of mild dryness is there, especially as the floral and fruitiness start to mellow out in later steeps.
If you let the tea to cool down, the dry and tart characteristics won't be as apparent.

Genuinely one of the best teas that I have ever had.

Clearly high quality gushu material-
Strong taste, a lot of re-steeps, very strong qi.
For those who are acquainted with tea-side’s aged and semi-aged teas the plummy taste and the aroma would be very familiar, only this is the young version.

I disagree with the description about it being “light”, I have to prepare this tea with muting clays because the fruity notes are too strong for me in my regular Sheng set-up.

I kinda wish this was pressed so I could age this great material..