This tea lives up to its reputation. I bought some of the 2005 V93 501 as well, and think the 2007 is actually an improvement. You should buy a sample and see what it has to offer. This is the best ripe tea I own.

I have sampled several versions of the 7581 brick from more than one vendor, at about the same age or older. This is a really good one, and I like it better than several other versions of this brick, including one that is a few years older. I like my tea strong, and fix this one as a daily drinker grandpa style. It is a very smooth tea, no pronounced bitterness or astringency in my opinion, and it has the "good" aged flavor. None of the negatives, or even a hint of "fish tank". Whatever your tastes are, if you like ripe, you'll most likely like this one. The bricks I received were in good condition. I'll probably keep the second one back a few years before drinking it.

Quite interesting, soft and easy to drink.

Great Pu Erh Tea. I definitely recommend it.
All the flavors I love in a raw pu erh.
Easy to brew. Ten steeps at least. Honey comes to mind when I drink this tea.

This is a wonderful Tea, Fresh and sweet like honeydew. No bitterness at all. ALL the teas from KTM have been OUTSTANDING! My order arrived in 12 days to the US...Couldn't be happier. Thank you

I love the shape, size, and painted fish. I use these all the time. Definitely recommend!

Eh? What do you mean it's a BLACK tea?

You got to be kidding me.

Too floral to be true. 🍵🐝

I used 15 g of tea heads and 708 ml water boiled in a pan. 1 Tbs to 3 cups. Color was a beautiful deep red amber. The taste was what I wanted, so very earthy. If allowed to get stronger it will develop a not so wanted fishy taste, if so then dilute it. Excellent. As my non drinking tea neighbor says, that stuff smells like dirt. Yes and I love it too.

Good selection and I'm enjoying teas. A bit pricey, but no fool, teas is what they claim to be. Better than average experience.

I bought this based off the first review and I am glad I did! Firstly I have to say that it did not travel so well to my country (around 4 weeks). The initial brew on the day of arrival was dank and earthy, so be aware, it may need some love before being ready to drink.

Having said that, after airing and being in humidity controlled storage, it is one of my favourite aged daily drinkers. For the price, it offers a wonderful introduction into the world of aged shengs. The description is accurate in all aspects and it is possible to brew this tea all day long. Well worth the wait and I would definitely recommend, hence the full 5 stars.

One nice thing to note is that I had a few fresh brews in the evening as a test, and I slept very well. I can only assume that the caffeine content is not so high anymore in this tea. It definitely has some Qi.

This is my first Liu Bao and having previously only had Ripe Puerh to compare it with I was very keen to try it out. It travelled well and is now developing nicely over the past couple of months in a humidity controlled storage box.

The tea brick is fairly loose and the leaves are quite small, so it does tend to make a mess when picking it apart. I like to push the first few brews on my dark teas as I love the chocolate and woody taste often associated with them. This Liu Bao is different than a ripe puerh (in a good way), perhaps with less initial astringency, but the deep flavours I look for are there. After the initial few steeps from a 200ml nixing teapot, the deepness gives way to more mellow flavours. These in turn give way to a wonderful sweetness, not unlike a quality ripe puerh. I would recommend this tea.

I made it strong to start, with 550ml/8gr liquid/leaf. Boiling water in a canning jar. Has an oily surface and smells very mild/earthy, getting a chocolate oakiness flavor. It goes and goes all day grampa style, continued with boiling water refills. Not a strong earthy brew flavor, dry leaf matter has an earthy smell. If made weaker it would be great for a newbie. Leaf did flake easy with an ice pick pry, got good chunks over all. I used all leaf matter. Letting it sit a bit longer for another trial once more acclimated to my home. Great brick overall. Good cha qi.

Oh my goodness. Excellent. The taste is what I love in an aged Pu Erh Sheng. This definitely is on my favorites list. The right amount of bitterness morph’s into a delicious sweet combination.
I’m very happy with this 2005 XiaGuan 8653. I need a whole tong. It’s all of the above and more. TY for having it available for purchase.

I’m letting it accumulate. I did have a little of the brew because I couldn’t resist it when I first received the order. It’s a nice deep aged taste, like bark deep in the woods with a little sweetness aftertaste. I think more flavor will come out a little later.
I’m glad I purchased it.

Good value for money I think, it traveled well and overall a really nice tea. The description is accurate, it is a good thick pour from my Nixing teapot. The cake is quite loose for a factory cake, which I like. The initial smell after first wash has similar earthy, warm and woody aromas to a 1 year old ripe I also have at a similar price point, but the taste of the "pile" has definitely aged out! I am storing it in a container at 65-69% humidity, with other ripe cakes of various ages, so I hope I can extract a little more flavour over time.