Another one from Veck’s box of magic… I hadn’t tried until today (which has been self designated as CLT tasting note day).
This one tastes ancient! It isn’t quite as sweet or fruity as the 2005 top of the clouds, or nearly as intense of a color.
While I use floral as a note, it isn’t tropical flowers like I get off of some other teas, it is more of your garden variety western type. I keep picturing pansies, like the kind from the salad, but not as bitter. Or maybe an iris, elegant and brisk.
The after taste on this one lingers, and almost reminds me of an ancient library. Like the sensation of opening an ancient tome. A lot of the classic Changtai note is pretty muted, I guess by so long in wet storage. It’s very Yiwu in character, but not as powdery as I found the 2005 Changtai Yibang I got from Puerhshop to be. The leaves are small, but maybe a bit bigger on average than a yibang.
It was very interesting. Other than the 90s Hong Kong Storage this is the oldest tea I’ve had. This is good, and I could see some Yiwu fans swooning over this one. But unlike pretty much everything else from Crimson Lotus I don’t feel the need to stock a life time supply of this.
Flavors: Flowers, Mineral, Paper
