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Nice, full-bodied, savory young raw. The most defining characteristic of this tea is its savory body with hints of earthy sweetness. It really is something close to a broth made with mushrooms. Accentuating this are some lightly bitter herbal notes and some florals. The aftertaste is fresh – with mint, coriander, and apricot coming through.

It has a reasonably full body, particularly for such a young tea. It also has a nice balance of flavors. It does not have an overpowering flavor going wild like fruit, floral, or bitterness, which I sort of expected in a young raw. Everything was pretty refined and balanced, but there is some strength there that it can build on with age.
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Dry leaf – fresh apricot, honey, sweet floral, mint, coriander. In preheated vessel – dried apricot and date, raisin, some nut notes, grape

Smell – grass, wood, coriander, parsley, mushroom broth, lemongrass

Taste – dewy grass, mushroom broth, hints of floral perfume. Aftertaste of mint, coriander, and hints of apricot. Some mouth-drying astringency, very little bitterness.

I would guess that this tea started life quite bitter and herbal – an experience not unlike chewing on the stem of some decorative parsley – which seems to be the trademark of so many Menghai teas. After seven years of aging, there is still some of that left; however, these youthful flavors are now in the process of transforming into more mature, approachable flavors, notably sweet tobacco and mild fruit notes.

This isn’t a bad time to be tasting this tea, but it still does need some more age on it before it really shines. The bitterness isn’t bad right now – it never exceeds what you find in a fairly tame IPA – but the bitter green herb flavors can be a bit much after a while.

Based on what I’m tasting right now, this tea will continue to develop its sweet aged tobacco and dried dark fruit notes. There are still plenty of youthful flavors to this one, which I think would indicate that this will be packed with flavor as it continues to age.

In the meantime, what you can expect right now are plenty of hay, green herb, and tobacco notes with some hops-like bitterness. Rounding out these flavors are dried dark fruit notes that enhance the tobacco sweetness.
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Dry leaf – fresh peach and apricot, clover honey, fresh hay. In preheated vessel – prune, dried fig, sweet tobacco

Smell – parsley and bitter green herb, tobacco, straw, wood smoke, charred wood, some spiciness

Taste – sweet tobacco, bitter herb, parsley, hay are predominant, cigar-like “spiciness”. Consistent base of stewed English breakfast tea. Prune sweetness with undertones of apricot.

Another really tasty green tea from YS. It was very similar to the Xinyang Mao Jian that I had earlier this summer. A lot of fruity sweetness and creaminess. This one in particular had some noticeable sweet creaminess that reminded me of coconut. All of this was balanced by the edamame and corn notes you would expect from a green.

Overall, the Lu Shan Yun Wu was just a bit more savory and had a touch more bitterness. Still, one of the best green teas I’ve had. It’s just one of those teas that I really looked forward to drinking.

It was fairly sensitive to brewing parameters, so be sure to watch your temps and steep times.
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Dry Leaf – sweet notes like a cherry danish (cherry compote, pastry, cream), coconut, roasted corn, edamame. In preheated vessel – corn and edamame prevalent

Smell – corn, edadame, sweet grass, baking spices, creamed corn

Taste – roasted corn, edamame, sweet corn, sweet grass, coconut, pina-colada, cherry compote, buttery pastry, mint, hops-like citrus bitter/sweet, some lemongrass

As of August 2017, this is not yet listed on their website. I received it as a sample promotion.

Let me start out by saying this is wonderfully tasty and complex black tea. It reminds me of a few Taiwanese black teas I had a while back. It has the expected malt and nut notes, but there is another layer of flavor – itself very complex, tasty, and balanced – a layer of flavor I’ll call “Christmas candle.”

Stay with me… Have you smelled the kind of scented candles that they market for the holidays – the kind with some frosty-looking red berries and a sprig of holly? That’s the one! This Christmas candle flavor has a waxy, bittersweet berry note to it with some sharp green notes cutting through it – sort of a resiny/piney note.

In a previous review of a Taiwanese black tea from BTTC, I had a similar experience. I picked up on this note and related to some mulberry-scented soap I purchased a while ago – floral, fragrant, sweet, waxy berry notes. So, take your pick – mulberry or Christmas candle. I can’t think of anything else to call it.

In any event, it works wonderfully well with the rest of the flavors in this black tea, and, as you can see, it adds a totally new complexity to the whole experience.

Tons of flavor, wholly engaging. Definitely recommend for those seeking a unique black tea experience. Unfortunately, I can’t give it a numerical rating since I don’t know how much it costs. But it certainly is worth spending a little extra on.
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Leaf – mulberry, red currant, pollen, tangy fruity floral; heat – roasted pecan, caramel arrives

smell – roasted pecan, toasted marshmallow, pine wood, hints of wood smoke, mulberry

taste – toasted marshmallow, roasted pecan, notes of wood smoke; aftertaste of pine wood, red currant, mulberry, slight creaminess

A very rich ripe. Main flavors are carob, cream of wheat/grits, and cherry wood, with notes of Brazil nut and hints of molasses. There are also definite camphor notes present, but they are subdued and serve to add balance and interest to the brew.

The brew is rich and full of flavor. For every infusion, the development on the palate was slow and deep. You could have told me that this was an aged raw and I would have believed it. At the very least, I would have thought this was a ripe with substantial age on it. For a ripe with only four years of age, this tea carries a lot of depth and maturity.

This tea really does deliver an aged experience, one that is powerful, deep, rich, and unhurried. I found it quite meditative, in fact, despite having my two-year old daughter running around me like a crazy person. Maybe I can convince her to have a tea party… ;)

This tea is not currently listed on gylxtea.com site, but it was sent to me as a sample promotion.
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Leaf – cherry wood, cream of wheat, compost, dark cocoa powder. In preheated vessel – carob, stewed blackberries, molasses, cherry cordial chocolates.

Smell – cherry wood, carob, compost, slight camphor and molasses

Taste – grits/cream of wheat, carob, cherry wood, camphor, Brazil nut, coffee grounds

A fine daily drinker. It offers a nice balance – not too sweet, not too nutty. It has everything you want in a black tea – nut, malty sweet, sweet potato, with hints of fruit (blackberry) and green herb (sassafras?)

Overall, the whole experience is fairly subdued. It doesn’t really have any one thing that jumps out. Its personality is more about balance, smoothness, and delivering on the promise of a black tea – no surprises, but certainly no disappointments either.

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Dry Leaf – honey roasted peanuts, blackberry cobbler, mulberry, hint of sassafras; heat – rich roasted pecan, molasses

Smell – roasted pecan and almond, malt, sweet potato

Taste – roasted almond, sweet potato, malt, some green notes (sassafras), hints of blackberry

So, I ordered this as a sample in my most recent purchase. I remember doing my homework and finding a puerh that sounded interesting, tasty, and that would be something I would buy. What I forgot, however, was how affordable it was. Currently $66 on the .com site. A great deal for a high-quality 400g cake.

Despite its youth, it is very tasty and drinkable now. Apricot and fresh herbs pop out, with refreshing notes of cucumber and mint. A noticeable honey sweetness as well. There are some strong bitter herbal notes, particularly when brewed hard; but, based on what I have found, this only translates into good aging potential.

This is a good value for those wanting some old tree stuff.
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Dry leaf: dried apricot, sweet floral, honey, dried parsley and some mint. Hints of grape syrup as well. In preheated vessel – apricot note gets deeper.

Smell: wildflower honey, honeysuckle, musty floral

Taste: sweet citrus (mandarin orange), apricot, honey and corn syrup sweetness, coriander, hay and dewy grass, fresh parsley and mint, cucumber.

[Spring 2017 version]

What an incredible tea. Tons of flavor, lots of complexity, long-lasting durability, very affordable… It checks every box. It also works extremely well both gong-fu and grandpa style. I don’t know what to fault this tea on, so I’ll give it my highest rating yet.

The complex flavor profile includes grass, vegetal umami, fruit, saltiness, and sweet spice. Flavors pop on your palate, but are balanced and always very pleasant. Also, flavors rise and fall throughout the session as if it were a puerh. New flavors are highlighted with different infusions. This even occurred while drinking grandpa style. Long-lasting complex aftertaste as well.

Maybe I’m gushing a little over this tea while it has me in its caffeine-induced sway, but this is an absolute masterpiece and a joy to drink. I can’t imagine a green tea being much better than this.

If you are fan of sencha, I would highly recommend you try this tea. There are definite parallels – grassiness, umami, some saltiness, fruit, etc. – but I think this tea offers more complexity and durability.

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Dry Leaf – very sweet (like strawberries and cream flavoring!), pine, light beer malt, sugared berries. In preheated vessel: roasted corn, tomato vine, sun-dried tomato

Smell – mint, vegetal (corn, edamame, tomato vine), cooked blackberries

Taste – summer grass, vegetal (roasted corn, cooked spinach, edamame), some slight saltiness like edamame and salted cantaloupe, hints of sweet cinnamon and chocolate. Aftertaste of light mint, cantaloupe and hint of blackberry. The strawberry-cream note from the dry leaf is hinted at in the aftertaste as well.

There is what I perceive to be a fairly strong roast on this one. The first infusion in particular has a noticeable but mellow charcoal note to it, although this fades rapidly during the second and third infusion (which is a good thing – I don’t like drinking something that tastes like an old grill!)

Dominant flavors are roasted nut and a certain dryness in-mouth (not mineral, more like pine wood and dry spice). Aftertaste has a big, tart, citrusy flavor with some stonefruit and melon undertones.

So, all-in-all, it is pretty tasty. I enjoyed drinking it; it didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it was enjoyable.

A few drawbacks include it losing flavor relatively quickly. To counteract this, I had to fill my gaiwan up to the brim with dry leaf. This gave me four good infusions followed by two decent ones before the in-mouth flavors pretty much dropped off and became that sort of woody flavor you get with roasted oolongs.

Considering this, I’m not really keen on paying a premium for this tea when there are equally tasty cheaper alternatives.

Anyway, I wanted to try the four famous bushes of Wu Yi, and now I have. Personally, I’m sticking with Da Hong Pao and maybe Tie Luo Han as a treat. Bai Ji Guan was good, and certainly the most different one of the bunch, but I think I would be more inclined to just get a Bao Zhong or even a Tie Guan Yin if I am looking for a greener oolong experience.

There will be more Wu Yi oolong imbibing throughout this year. I’m excited to spend some time exploring these teas. They are intriguing!
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Dry leaf: peanut shell, baking chocolate. Hints of dried fruit (cherry, mango), and baking spices. In preheated vessel, tart citrus notes arrive (kumquat, tart raspberry)

Smell: charcoal roast and roasted nuts. Secondary notes of dark caramel. Hints of dried red fruit in background.

Taste: roasted nuts, charcoal roast. Secondary notes of baking spice, pine wood, and some minerality. Tartness arrives in-mouth prior to finish. Aftertaste of tart citrus, stonefruit, and some melon

Exploring several Wu Yi oolongs this year. They have been a consistent favorite, so time to get to know them a little more. Might as well start with the Four Famous Bushes! I’ve sampled a few Da Hong Pao, and one Tie Luo Han. So, up next is Bai Ji Guan.

Overall, it was OK. When it was good, it was really good. Unfortunately, I only ever really got three good infusions. The subsequent infusions lost most of their interesting notes.

The flavor profile is sweet, floral, herbal, and savory. Very complex and nice while it lasted. The sweetness was fairly pronounced but was tempered by a wonderful savory note that brought the whole flavor into a delicious harmony.

There was also a really nice salty sweetness in the aftertaste, which I really like. Kind of liked salted cantaloupe.

All in all, it had a complex and fascinating flavor, but was fairly short-lived. I’m very glad to have tried it, as it was quite unique. Worth the experience.
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Dry leaf: floral, pollen, dried parsley and dill, sweet and bitter fruit like kumquat. In preheated vessel – roasted corn and tomato vine.

Smell: light honey, honeysuckle, sweet floral, fresh parsley

Taste: yeast roll, honey butter, fresh parsley and cilantro, grape skin, orange flower, mineral. Light saltiness and fruit in aftertaste – salted cantaloupe, apricot, floral.