Nannuoshan

[Spring 2021 harvest]

Good yellow tea that reminds me of a Dong Ding oolong at times, but it has also got more of fermentation notes and at times more bitterness.

Dry leaf aroma reminds me of a clean barn with its hints of hay, compost and wood as well as of coffee leaves. Wet leaves then smell of canola, fried chicken and mint.

I’ve had two sessions with the tea, one with close to boiling water and one with lower temperatures. I definitely prefer the former due to a better thickness, the liquor has an oily rather than watery texture then. It gets bitter, but not aggressively so, and astringency is never an issue. The tea is brightly nutty, mineral and floral with a pungent sweet aftertaste. It gives off a warm, summery vibe.

A fairly average Fu Zhuan with a largely woody and nutty character and an intriguing numbing and cooling mouthfeel. In its aromas, it reminds me of candles, wooden cabinets and ant mounds, while the taste bring hints of sawdust, coffee fruitiness, and some sour fermantation notes.

I feel like I may be warming up to the Yancha profile. First two times I’ve had this particular one, I thought it was a high quality tea that is perhaps not really for me. However, today the complex room-filling aroma brought a very comfortable feeling that was then supported by the rest of the session.

Dry leaves have a perfumy smell with notes of wooden cabinets, nectarine, fruit tree flowers and coffee. The wet leaf aroma is sweet and marine with a hint of nettle.

The liquor has a fluffy, colloidal texture and a thick, mouth-watering mouthfeel. It tastes woody and bitter with a sort of vegetal sweetness to it. There is a sweet and spicy finish with a distinct cinnamon note. The protracted aftertaste is very strong and evolving – it is sweet, sour, and savoury and involves a warming and spicy fragrance that emerges from the throat

This is one of my more expensive teas, but I was already buying some teaware from Gabrielle, so I might as well – paying those ,2€/g really does pay off – especially at Nannuoshan.
This sheng pu erh is fantastic. I usually have a hard time noticing the savoury notes, but not with this tea; it is very savoury.

I usually brew this tea lightly, ≈5sec in my gaiwan (I know I should buy a yixing pot…). It is very creamy, viscous, and with a lot of forest notes (mushroom, fresh vegestables, forrest berry).

Overall a very good experience.

I got the chance to try this when Nannuoshan added it to the EU TTB some time back, and was so enamoured with my first aged white tea that I decided to keep the remaining sample. This is a very unique tea, and I can’t really do it justice this afternoon as it was drank while doing puzzles in the newspaper and not really paying attention to it. It’s sweet, but not mild, almost like nectar with a mouth feel just as thick. There are some honeyed floral notes and something like sweet hay. The tea has a faint humming qi which is warming and comforting without being too defocusing or making me drowsy. It’s like a woolly jumper in tea form.

Perfect for discovering rock teas, light, slightly flowery, light torefaction note, perfect to discover the teas of this family.

In short, a tea too light for me.

Gongfu cha methode 45s/45s/60s/90s Water 95°c

Thick creamy viscous with a strong steaming vegetable character and a hint musk melon. In comparison with the Bi Luo Chun this guy doesn’t tend to fall into bitterness that easy. This whole vegetable basket steaming intensely within a nice fusion of zucchini, edamame and avocado while it covers every inch of your senses and inner mouth section with a fine coat of this elegant impression. But beside that it is going the left you behind mouth watering, craving for more while this whole coating more and more transforms into some kind of sweetness and a bit different vegetable profile of green sweet peppers and also naturally sweet corn. This Green fellow really is a sensation of its own and left quite the impression. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the salty ocean case – in this very case it created a feeling of a fine breeze whistling which brought an experience near my senses of standing on an open view ocean scene while the wind carries this fine sea salty scent through the air and my senses. A really lovely aspect.

First white tea for me that had significant age to it.

There was an intriguing sweetness to it that was hard to pin down. It was sort of like coconut or carob, where the sweetness is balanced by a sort of woody/stem-y note.

Definitely a departure from a fresh white tea. Much richer base sweetness and much more complexity.
*
Dry leaf – honeysuckle, blackberry syrup, carob, sweet floral

Smell – cherry wood, coconut, marshmallow, blackberry syrup, fruit leaf (? – I don’t know, just sort of a fruit-sweet mixed with leafiness…)

Taste – coconut, carob, dark chocolate cherry cordial are predominant. Base flavors of English breakfast tea, some hints of tea with lemon juice.

noms. GCTTB this is delicious! I don’t love green teas all the time, but there are a few out there who make me want to keep a couple in my cupboard. This is one of those. It’s fruity and sweet, with an almost nutty flavour profile in the background? almost? it’s not super vegetal but being a green tea, there’s some of that. mostly though, it’s sweet and delicious.

I received a sample of this, quite some time ago, from Gabriele at NanNuoShan, and I finally got around to drinking it! Though I’m sad that I waited this long, so the sample was probably a little old, the tea was still rather delicious!

Across the 6 or 7 (I think :S ) steeps that I did, this tea was consistently lovely – a thick-ish smooth texture, with delicious honey notes throughout. I think there were floral notes near the beginning and some more spiced notes (kinda woody and sweet spiced) near the end.

additional notes:  I’m very sad I gave this an OKAY rating in the past.  I must be sorely missing quality black teas because steeping this one I didn’t really like before was quite delicious today.  I think the trick was majorly overleafing this ancient tea.  I mean, I just dumped the leaves into the infuser.  But with such a light colored, golden leaf, I always forget this brews quite dark, with a lot of depth.  Last time I learned two teaspoons is necessary for a good session and this time it was even more leaf.  I agree with my past note:  mildly smoky, peppery hot chocolate.  This time I would say it was bittersweet chocolate.  I went with three steeps to make up for how much of this pricey leaf I dumped in the infuser… I REALLY miss plain black teas I love (especially fresh ones).  I guess I’m realizing I don’t have too many plain black teas around anymore.  I’m behind on my sipdown goal for the past few days!  Oh no!  Steeping this one up was worth it though.  Raising the rating from 76.   This shop is still around if anyone was wondering!   https://us.nannuoshan.org

edited to add: Note to self: remember to try more leaf with middling golden leaf teas.

Thanks again, Nicole! The first time I tried this, the flavor was a little light. I don’t remember how much I steeped up. I didn’t want to write a tasting note last time as I thought my parameters could be improved. They were. Two teaspoons is right for a mug. The flavor is still smooth, but not characterless. This time around, it’s like mildly smoky milk chocolate. Very peppery, so it reminds me of some Yunnans that tend to be peppery. The leaves look like some of them as well. Sickle shaped fuzzies both dark and gold. The steeped leaves are actually very fruity scented somehow. This isn’t my favorite of this type of tea (not enough of a kick in flavor for me) but these steeps were vastly improved since last time.
Steep #1 // 2 tsps. // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min

You all get a lucky break from my tasting notes, as I’m having computer troubles. You’re welcome. :D

I’m drinking the last of my sample of this one at the moment, and I’d forgotten how lovely it is! It’s such a light, delicate green tea – perfect for people like me who spend a fair amount of their time thinking that they don’t even LIKE green tea. This is clearly not true – I’ve discovered a lot of green teas that are perfectly palatable, and some (like this one) I’ve really enjoyed. This one verges on sweet, to my tastes, and reminds me of sugar snap peas. There’s a more savoury element underlying, which really helps to give it some depth. It’s kind of vegetal and green beany. Totally yum. Another thing I enjoy about this one is its sheer smoothness – it really is almost buttery in terms of mouthfeel. I’ll miss this one now that it’s gone from my cupboard, and it’s one I’d purchase for myself if I ever get to the stage when my cupboard is under control enough for me to have “staple” teas of any kind. Until then, this can be a delicious memory.