The puer tryouts continue!
After last time's disappointing experience with Jingmai Miyun, I went through all of my samples before writing again, both for the sake of not spamming this general with my dogshit newbie opinions, and also to spare you guys from an unending flurry of "I dun like it" posts if I simply didn't like any of them.
Fear not, turns out I like some puer after all.

So far I'd tried the 2024 yellow flakes (pretty good if a little unidimensional), the 2023 bangwai ripe (smells AND tastes like warm unsalted smoked salmon), and the 2025 jingmai miyun (one of the most astringent teas I've ever tried, maybe my fault, maybe it's just shit, dunno).

Now the newcomers:

2017 Bangwai ripe: slight fishy smell goes away instantly when brewed, no trace of it in the taste. Strange (in a good way) taste I couldn't properly describe, very nice aftertaste and smell, gets thicker and sweeter as time goes on. Lasts a looong time, very good experience.

2025 Bangwai small trees: stronger "raw" taste than the yellow flakes, almost no astringency and a funny bitterness that turns into strong sweetness within seconds. VERY sweet aftertaste creeps in about 20 seconds after taking a sip. Still has what I guess is the farmerleaf sheng taste. Probably my favorite of the bunch.

2025 Fa zhan he: kinda starts like the Bangwai but with way less sweetness, a bit more astringent too (maybe my fault). Quickly gets very brothy, almost savory in a vegetable kind of way, like what you get with some japanese greens, very tasty. Sweet aftertaste is present but very subdued compared to the sweet bomb of the Small trees. Pretty nice all things considered.

That's all for me, sorry for the wall of text boys, ask away if you have any question.

Picrel: giving Jingmai Miyun another chance with more leaf and cooler water as another anon recommended. Cute sitckers thrown in as an apology for the dogshit lighting and picture quality. My 8yo phone is doing its best but it's clearly not enough.