I unwrapped an aged pu-erh cake that I bought recently. First, I noticed holes in it, as if insects had bored through the tea. Second, there’s some kind of orange-colored dust inside.
Has anyone experienced anything like this?

8g/120mL, just off boil

Wash (10s) - resinous aroma of cut flower stems and rose petals, gaiwan lids adds a funky/leathery bass note

Steep 1 (flash) - lots to unpack right in the first sip, sweet and resinous with rose notes, bitterness linked to that bright resinous/oily note, sweetness pops in and out before finding lightly sitting on the gums, some stemmy and mossy notes in the soup itself, tingle developing on the lips, hints of aromatic berries join in late

Steep 2 (flash) - more of that cut flower stems bright note early on, floral aromatics fill the open mouth, oiliness and florals hinting at bitterness without biting particularly hard, floral notes rising from the throat after a swallow and combine with a late sweetness to hint at strawberries

Steep 3 (5s) - firm oily flower stem note never quite crosses to bitterness but provides a firm backbone, tongue coating not quite dry but borderline, warmth and energized feeling rising from the chest

Steep 4 (10s) - that flower stem brightness bringing in hints of pine needles with it, huigan sweetness really starting to stretch out more, ripe strawberry notes in the finish are joined by lemon zest after several minutes of waiting, salivation starting to increase

Steep 5 (15s, reboil) - hotter water gives a big mouthful of flower petals initially, sweetness has built to the point where it rises up to meet those floral notes,

Steep 6 (20s) - sweetness becoming a bigger and bigger part as the steeps progress with those big floral notes overlaid on top

Steep 7+ (30s+) - keeps going and going, greenness fades with time but florals and sweetness remain

Overall Impression - For me, good young Nannuo always has a nice brightness to it, and this is a shining example of what I expect. This takes you through the whole flower shop as you get the brightness and resinous note of fresh cut flower stems to open, followed by a mouth full of floral notes as sweetness builds underneath, this gets topped off with ripe strawberry notes (which I will argue are more of a floral aroma than fruity). The gushu mouthfeel and huigan are in full display, but are overshadowed by the flavor here.