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Wow. This is a strange dianhong. These buds are huge, similar to silver needles. They are very hairy, the inside of the bag is covered in a thin layer of bud fluff. Smell of the dried leaves is not so strong, fresh, eucalyptusy.

The brew is a very bright yellow, with hardly any of the reddish hue of `normal’ red tea. It is very transparent. The brewed leaves appear very lightly-oxidized, with a lot of greenness coming through.

This tea lacks the body of classic dianhongs. Little maltiness. This drinks quite like a white tea in fact. It is sweet and aromatic, in a piny way. Eucalyptus or pine needles perhaps. There is some resemblance to the typical caramelly dianhong aroma but much more in a fresh, spicy way. The finish has spices and nutmeg but is a little short to my taste, it doesn’t really linger in a sweet way, unless you brew it pretty strong. But maybe that’s the way to go anyway because big buds like these don’t give of their flavour so quickly.

Nice. This can’t replace the ‘real’ dianhongs and I wouldn’t have it for breakfast, but it’s good on its own. At 10$/100g with free shipping I think this is good value.

So, a 20-year-old old arbor tea. For €35. I bought a 50g sample of this just to try. It is actually not a bad tea to my taste. It is sweet, somewhat savory and there is a smokey sweetness that lingers. This sweetness isn’t really deep or warming, it’s more of a high, citrusy sweetness, almost acidic. This tea isn’t weak or unsubstantial, nor is it overly strong or astringent. Perhaps it’s even a nice budget raw, although I think it would get boring pretty quickly. . The leaf and liquor color are really light. I’m no expert but really can’t imagine this having been stored for 20 years.

Nice and interesting tea. Dry leaves smell of hay and honey. Washed leaves first smell a little smokey and somewhat savoury, with a weird resemblance to Dutch smoked eel. After some time the smell is more honeyish and vegetal. The liquor is nicely smooth and honeyish. Leaves are surprisingly well-oxidized for s silver needle and this tea doesn’t have that very crisp and vegetal asparagus/spinachy profile of some other silver needles. It leans more towards darker white tea types such as moonlight white.

Nice. Interestingly, it has that warming, toasty aroma that also characterises Wuyi oolongs. I always attributed this to the roast of Wuyi oolongs, but since it is also present in this black tea I guess it also comes from terroir. Also this tea is nicely mineral, but still it is clearly a black tea. No astringency or bitterness present at all. I find it also a bit tame though. I like teas that have a little bite and lingering aftertaste. The aromatics of this one are gone the moment you swallow. I guess you could call that a `clean finish’, but to me it feels a little unsatisfying. When brewed with an extra large amount of leaf (sheng puerh style) I like it a bit more.

Very nice semi-aged raw. Delicious. Very smooth, warming tea. Complex flavor with some tobacco aroma (hardly smoky though), but mainly a deep, satisfying sweetness. Nice lasting sensation. Clearly aged, though it has no wet-storage basement aromas whatsoever. When they sold out at YS, I was happy to buy one more on TaoBao, which tastes very similar to the one I got from YS.

Bought this on TaoBao but I am pretty sure it is the same one as is sold on YS. Nice wet-stored raw, very dark for its age. Nice basement aromas with some spicy character, dark color and satisfying body. Wet leaves smell have that woody smell of antique shops. Rich taste, full and mellow mouthfeel, slight amount of pleasing astringency. Nicely lasting (in the throat and in the brewing vessel). I hope it will still be sold when I do my next TaoBao order, I will definitely buy a couple more!

I like this pu-erh. It is not the best aged raw I know though. I guess this could be called wet-stored pu-erh. The taste is basement-like, in an enjoyable way. There are nice notes of old wood. Reminds me of antique shops. The tea is also rather sweet, fruity and smooth. I would have liked a little more thickness/full-bodiedness.

As every year, very nice. Light, fresh, lively and happy tea. Flowery, vegetal, sweet, satisfying astringency.