This is the second on-the-record use of Arby's Truth Serum water recipe. I really enjoyed this particular tea last time I had it with Hinckley purified water (TDS of 5) + Arby's 1.0 recipe (which consisted just of epsom salt and baking soda). Truth Serum features gypsum, magnesium chloride, and other tweaks on top of baking soda and epsom salt which are put together with the goal of expressing the full character of the tea.

Infusions

1. The wet leaf is strong on florals, vanilla, and baked goods which is a bit different from the smell of the leaf after the rinse. The first infusion is a bit light since the leaf is still a bit clumpy and was hard to parse without breaking a bunch. I'm getting a mid-aged, tangy wood-like sweetness. Mouthfeel is very soft and smooth. There's also a vanilla cake taste.
2. The liquor has a much deeper golden color than the first; the leaves also seem opened up much more. The leaf has an orchid and lily floral smell. There's a slight aged flavor with coffee cherry tea notes. Tropical fruits and floral aromatic notes with light astringency on the finish. Sweet pastries smell in the empty cup.
3. The wet leaf has a bit of a gunpowder, cut vegetation, brown sugar, and deep floral aroma. This round, the liquor came out super cloudy. The flavors seem quite rounded by age with the core flavor being a floral aged note - kind of banana bready and woody a bit like the fruity bright/clean notes in shou. The coffee cherry/cascara tangy aroma is still there as well.
4. This one is the sweet spot that I loved from last time I tried this tea. It's unlocked the perfect amount of florals and aged flavors melted together with less of that woody tang. There are a lot of pastry-like notes and this reminds me of my mom's apple crisp made with phyllo dough and a caramelized sugar glaze on top. But you also don't forget you're drinking sheng, so it's a real nice compounded flavor in my opinion.
5. Hard to describe but it's like a floral fruit that becomes cream as you eat it.
6. A bit brothier and more savory.
7. I'm really noticing the sweetness being juxtaposed by some spicy lightly aged notes.
8. Tastes like old man flowers in the best way possible - I love it. Spicy, woody, floral, aged
9. ...
10. ...
11. Now things are getting a bit different. The experience is like being right next to a lily while you cut its stem. There's that bright floral fragrance but a sharp lively vegetal note. Focusing in on that vegetal note, it's akin to watermelon rind. Overall stupidly smooth even after brewing for 10+ minutes.
12. The smell of the leaf as the water was being poured in here was wildly floral. Taste had a sherbet creamy note backed by woody/floral sweetness. The astringency is gentle but assertive and makes you want to keep coming back for more. This is really sessionable especially in the later steeps.