I don’t have much information about this tea. I bought it in Bratislava in a tea house after trying it out. It was labelled as Shui Xian Huang Pian. I am not sure where it was grown, but it’s quite possible that it is from Wuyi Shan. My guess is that it is the leftover leaves from yancha production, processed as a sheng pu’er.
The aroma reminds me of summer in Liguria with fruity and herbal scents. It also reminds me of a very fruity sheng. In the preheated gaiwan, I can smell coffee tiramisu and black pepper in the background. The wet leaves are mostly mineral and floral smelling on the other hand.
The taste is extremely mineral, bitter, crisp and vegetal with a sweet finish. It really tastes like a sheng, but much more mineral than your standard pu’er. The aftertaste is spicy, expansive with a returning sweetness. Liquor is medium bodied with a creamy texture. Overall, the cha qi is quite body warming and focusing.
Flavors: Bitter, Dry Grass, Earth, Floral, Fruity, Herbaceous, Mineral, Sweet, Tea, Vegetal, Wet Rocks
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
I ordered the 2000 Yi Wu “Huang Pian” Matured Leaves Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake from YS. I’m looking forward to trying that old yeller. It sounds like it has completely mellowed out, but will be interesting to compare it with your notes on this huang pian. Togo, do you work as a profession taster or sommelier? I’m amazed at how many aromas and flavors you can detect in tea, often very subtle differences such as juniper and cedar, which I would be hard pressed to tell the difference, especially intermingled with other notes in a tea.
oh nice, I actually ordered a sample of that aged huang pian just yesterday :)
I’ve never done any professional tasting, but I have always liked to cook. I think the way I approach cooking has helped me be more mindful about flavours and aromas. I should say though that I think of the tasting notes quite liberally and do not assign them any objective meaning. Often they come from memories triggered by the tasting session, which are explicitly subjective, but even other kind of associations are, just not as obviously.
Awesome. Can’t wait to read your tasting notes on it.
I ordered the 2000 Yi Wu “Huang Pian” Matured Leaves Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake from YS. I’m looking forward to trying that old yeller. It sounds like it has completely mellowed out, but will be interesting to compare it with your notes on this huang pian. Togo, do you work as a profession taster or sommelier? I’m amazed at how many aromas and flavors you can detect in tea, often very subtle differences such as juniper and cedar, which I would be hard pressed to tell the difference, especially intermingled with other notes in a tea.
oh nice, I actually ordered a sample of that aged huang pian just yesterday :)
I’ve never done any professional tasting, but I have always liked to cook. I think the way I approach cooking has helped me be more mindful about flavours and aromas. I should say though that I think of the tasting notes quite liberally and do not assign them any objective meaning. Often they come from memories triggered by the tasting session, which are explicitly subjective, but even other kind of associations are, just not as obviously.
Awesome. Can’t wait to read your tasting notes on it.