I also think that the sheng that is good to drink young is expensive with some exceptions.
I have tried few relatively inexpensive teas from 2007 and later and none of them was actually bitter. Usually, I use 120ml gaiwan with 6-7 grams of tea and nearly boiling water. After a short rinse, I start my steepings from 6-10 seconds and gradually increase the steeping time. On the very few occasions, when I did manage to get seriously bitter tea, it was merely due to serious over-steeping. In fact, some of the cheap and young teas I have tried were even sweet and delicate - for example, 2011 YS "Feng Yun", a very cheap tea. Some teas, like 2010 Yiruchang "Si Shui", may indeed have a bitter-sweet note in their taste, but the bitter part is a pleasant bitterness and is far from being domineering. Yet, some other shengs that are not sweet at all and have more tobacco-like, grassy smell and taste, often leave a sweet aftertaste in the mouth - e.g. 2007 Haiwan "Shen Shan Lao Shu" or 2011 YS "Wu Liang" - but none of them has ever been really bitter for me.
So, I wonder, why my experience with young shengs is so different from what others are writing about them. Is there something wrong with my taste-buds? Or maybe my steeping method is different from the one that is considered right for pu-erh?