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This tea seems more oxidized than most Ruby 18 whites. As such, it is slightly sweeter, but the largest difference appears to be visual. There is also very little astringency even when brewed aggressively. It is not a cheap tea, but it resteeps very well, it is possible to get 300ml/g from it.

Dry leaf aroma is a mix of hay and nectarine, while the characteristic menthol is more present in wet leaves. The scent is pungent and very enjoyable, but I can’t think of many faithful comparisons. On the other hand, the tea doesn’t have a strong aroma in the empty cup, which also shows up in a weaker aftertaste.

The taste has a nice quinine bitterness, floral sweetness, and a fruity tartness. There are flavours like apple, grass, peach, and star anise, among others. The texture is very good too, velvety and lubricating.

Thanks for the sample derk, I am going to end the decade with a tea unlike any other in my current stash. I have no idea how old this tea is, but it’s safe to say it’s quite old, possibly older than I am. The leaves look and smell like decaying autumn leaves (in the later stages of their decay) mixed with somewhat bioactive soil. Throughout the session, the aroma gets more and more cavernous.

There is not all that much I remember about the taste. It was mineral, spicy, mushroomy and very earthy. The aftertaste is sweet and cooling, but again doesn’t have all that much beyond the earthiness. Texture-wise, I found the tea very nice – slick and buttery although not too thick. However, one of the main takeaways for me is the cha qi, which I found interesting. It was very strong, but not at all aggressive. I would describe it as grounding overall, but the session came in three stages, mimicking the music selection (in brackets) – 1. primal (Amenra), 2. hypnotic (Burzum), and 3. meditative (Basinski).

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NZRzIVURvI

As many light fermentation ripes, this is an unusual tea that bears a lot of similarities in profile to light roast coffee. It is rough and earthy despite being mildly aged already – wet piled in 2013. The flavours are pretty strong and varied. It could age into a very smooth, complex, and elegant tea, but it might need a decade or two to get there.

The aroma at the moment is quite unique with notes of yellow apple, wood, candlewax, and light smoke. Taste-wise, it is also a mix pulling in various directions. It is bitter, vegetal, sour, savoury, and herbaceous all at once. Flavours are hard to pin down, but I can taste citrus, dry earth, turmeric, mint, wood, and cranberry at times. The aftertaste is a little fishy, sweet, and spicy. There are notes of nuts, coffee, fenugreek (both leaves and seeds), milk, and rock sugar.

The liquor texture is initially very mouth-watering and smooth, but gets more numbing and a little powdery later on. All in all, it’s a unique tea that’s priced well and can offer a specific experience given the right mood – I wouldn’t mind owning a brick of it.

Here’s another great Jinggu sheng that YS offers, Long Tang Gu Shu. It is extremely smooth and clean tasting with a unique profile that’s hard to describe.

The dry leaf aroma is sweet and floral, with notes of bell pepper and oregano, while wet leaves smell nutty and vegetal with scents like sugarcane, pine, persimmon, and ficus.

The taste is strong and balanced with great clarity, moderate to high bitterness, and medium astringency. It is very vegetal with a floral sweetness not unlike honey. Particular flavours are quite elusive, but some I picked up include vanilla, green bell pepper, star anise, thyme, and fish meat. Aftertaste is then savoury, crisp, and tangy with a lasting bitterness.

I like the mouthfeel a lot, it is creamy, thick, and numbing. As I mentioned already, the liquor is very smooth. I get a nice calming sensation from the tea, but the cha qi doesn’t seem to be overly strong here.

[Spring 2019 harvest]

This is one of the most interesting of the Yunnan green teas. Pure Bud Silver Strands has a dry aroma of apple, florals, and a butter-fried carrot. Wet leaves then smell of freshly cut grass, cooked vegetables, and cinnamon.

The taste is quite complex so my note will only scratch the surface of the flavours present. First infusion is herbaceous, metallic and alcohol-like (think gin). Later, it becomes more savoury with a tart finish and I get notes such as fennel and straw. The aftertaste then displays a tangy profile with flavours of sugarcane, malt, butter, and plant stems. It is slightly drying, but the astringency never becomes overwhelming.

I also really like the velvety, bubbly, and mouth-watering texture, as well as the relaxing cha qi. It’s a truly great green tea in all respects.

[Spring 2018 harvest]

I found derk’s review of this tea match my experience very accurately, so I will be fairly brief. This tea is nice and all, but it didn’t really strike me as exceptional in any way and didn’t fully grab my attention. I think of it more as a tea to drink while doing other stuff than one to focus on.

Dry leaves have a scent of old furniture initially with some notes of moss, forest floor, and dry conifer needles in a preheated vessel. After the rinse, the aroma is more malty on the other hand. The taste is malty, woody, and creamy; and evolves into a prolonged sweet and spicy aftertaste. Body is medium to full, with a sticky, tingly mouthfeel and decent astringency.

Even though a few years passed since their reviews, my impression of the tea is quite similar to those of oceanica and HaChaChaCha.

This tea is super smooth and fruity, with a strong heady and defocusing qi. It has aromas of peach, ash, melon and flavours such as white grapes, citrus, resin, and spices (like allspice). I also really liked the mouth-watering, bubbly texture, especially in the first few infusions.

Cha Duo Tang is an easy to drink, comforting tea with complex aromas and a nutty taste profile. However, the best aspect of it is its mouthfeel. The liquor is very thick and bubbly, with a slick, oily texture. This might very well be the best tea in the 0.5$/g category that I’ve ever had. It is not funky, so I would recommend it to everyone really, even those new to the world of fermented tea.

Dry leaves have a faint scent of peanuts, cooked pasta, and light wood smoke. After the rinse, I get a medicinal aroma with notes of herbs, cumin, kumquat, cedar, palm, dried lime, forest floor, and swamp flora (marigold).

The taste is vegetal and herbaceous with a touch of bitterness and a sweet finish. There are flavours like yellow peas, roasted hazelnuts, and wood. Aftertaste is then quite sweet, earthy, and warming with a sort of metallic character and notes of licorice, bay leaf and garlic.

YS’s Wu Liang sheng is a pleasant and tasty tea with no drawbacks and a bargain price. However, it is not super special that would make me want to buy a cake immediately. I has notes of gasoline, roasted nuts, and apricot pits in the wet leaf aroma, while the empty cup smells of sweet florals and blue grapes. The taste is bitter, grassy, and brothy, with flavours such as green apple, thyme, honey, and tobacco, developing into a cooling sweet aftertaste featuring notes of green bell pepper, resin, and butter. The liquor has a nice thick mouthfeel that is buttery, mouth-watering, and lubricating. In the 0.1$/g category, this is one of the best teas and I think it could hold up to long-term aging very well too.

What a beautiful tea this is. It blends many fruity and floral notes into a deliciously sweet and spicy profile. It is very good even when it cools down. Dry leaf smells of tobacco (without any smoky notes) and to a lesser extent tomatoes and blueberries. In a preheated gaiwan, there’s an interesting mix of chestnut and passion fruit. I find it very hard to identify the wet leaf aroma, but it is very flowery for sure with stone fruit notes mixed in.

The taste profile is super fragrant, sweet and tart. I got flavours such as star anise, fenugreek, apples, nectarine pits, dill, and citrus zest. In the late steeps, there are some herbaceous and malty notes as well. Aftertaste is dominated by a persisting sweetness, but it is not boring. New flavours like licorice, wood, curry leaves, and carrot emerge.

On top of the complexity, the tea also has a strong, calming cha qi and a bubbly, viscous mouthfeel. Drinking it I get a mouth-watering effect as well as a strong drying sensation on the sides of the mouth.