70's Vietnamese Liao Fu San Cha

I received this sample from Brandon as part of a tasting. Thanks again, Brandon. No pictures for this one today, sorry for that.

70's Vietnamese Liao Fu San Cha

The leaf is quite dark, but looks a lot better than what you'd expect from a shu (I'm not saying this is a shu). The stuff, after 30 years, is still in relatively large pieces.

The smell that emanates from leaf in the preheated gaiwan is musty and dusty. Normally I would be taken aback (as I'm allergic), however, what develops in a longer sniff is a luscious odor of old lumber.

2 flash rinses, then about 5 seconds for the first steep.
The smell of the must mostly got rinsed away and is only very minutely present in the brewed infusion. However, the must is one of the high notes in the taste, accompanied by a rich woodsy flavor. Deeper notes of wet leather and old lumber. The taste is very well-rounded and extremely enjoyable.

In the second infusion, I tasted a bit of tang. Probably akin to plum.

In following infusions, the flavors blend into a very enjoyable cup. Deep, warm, rich tones of old, wet lumber and leather. I bumped infusion 5 to a ~20 second infusion. The leaf lasted to about 10 infusions for me.

I really enjoyed this one as I don't get to have aged sheng all that often. It's from Houde, but unfortunately was sold out before I could get to more.