The first taste of pu-erh

I had to look up something in an old journal recently, from about five years ago. In it, I also found a description of the first time I tasted pu-erh. Pre-blog, I wrote my responses directly into the journal, and I find it amusing to read now:

My God, it smells exactly like fish in the pot. It's as black as coffee, and kind of thick in the cup. It really smells like fish ... It moves in the cup like a light oil, but without clinging. First taste — not as strong as I was expecting, nothing to match the scent — same in the mouth as it appeared in the cup: thicker than water somehow, almost astringent, and the much-ballyhooed "earthiness" is remarkably subtle. No strange flavor at all. Humble, wise, nourishing! It really is like wine, and looks like it — beautiful in the cup, in this sunlight, an Indian red, like a pinot, complete with sediment.