ok, this tea took me by surprise. It is so flavourful and tasty! The best huang pian I have tried for sure. The pungent and complex yet balanced character it has is rare to get even among standard sheng. Highly recommended!
The dry leaf smell is vegetal with notes of green peppercorn and cream. The aroma changes considerably after the leaves are immersed in water. Scents reminiscent of freshly cut grass, petrichor, gin, tobacco, dungeon, and peat come to the fore.
Taste is bitter, sweet and tangy with a beautiful fruity tartness. Among all the flavours I would highlight those of forest, lemon, spinach, and grapefruit skin. The aftertaste is warming and long-lasting, changing over time from bittersweet to spicy to floral. There are notes such as butter, cinnamon, black pepper, and a strong orchid fragrance that persists.
The mouthfeel is soft and the body medium thick. The first couple of steeps are drying on the sides of the mouth, and I get a tingling sensation at the back of the mouth throughout the whole session. The cha qi is very pleasant. I would describe its main features as being awakening and chest warming, but the tea does also heighten my perceptions overall.
It is hard to come up with any negatives of this tea whatsoever. Maybe at times one would like a thicker body, but that’s not necessarily always the case, and the mouthfeel here is more than interesting enough. At $0.11/g, this may even be the best value for a sheng I have ever come across.
Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Black Pepper, Butter, Cinnamon, Citrus Zest, Cream, Floral, Flowers, Forest Floor, Freshly Cut Grass, Fruity, Grapefruit, Herbaceous, Lemon, Orchid, Peppercorn, Petrichor, Spicy, Spinach, Sweet, Tangy, Tart, Tobacco, Vegetal
