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I’m still posting reviews of samples I finished in late 2020 and early 2021. There were so many of them. This was yet another. It was the first sample from Old Ways Tea that I finished during my second attempt at reducing the number of them. Prior to trying this tea, I had never tried a Bai Ji Guan from this particular vendor. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but luck was on my side. This tea was a winner.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of roasted carrot, custard, dandelion, orange zest, hay, honey, and longan that were underscored by a subtle roasted parsnip scent. After the rinse, new aromas of grass, straw, roasted peanut, roasted chestnut, and coriander emerged with touches of cannabis. The first infusion introduced aromas of watercress and dandelion greens. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of butter, cream, baked bread, longan, honey, dandelion, roasted chestnut, grass, hay, coriander, roasted carrot, and roasted parsnip that were balanced by hints of straw, pear, roasted almond, plum, watercress, custard, dandelion greens, and cattail shoots. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of minerals, plum, roasted almond, parsley, basil, cream, butter, spinach, mushroom, and baked bread to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of straw, roasted almond, pear, plum, watercress, dandelion greens, and cattail shoots emerged in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, parsley, basil, caramel, lettuce, violet, orange zest, spinach, and mushroom. Hints of roasted peanut, vanilla, licorice, green onion, cannabis, and green apple could also be picked out in places. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, grass, hay, coriander, pear, baked bread, cream, butter, dandelion greens, and roasted almond that gave way to a swell of subtler parsley, green apple, lettuce, caramel, mushroom, licorice, spinach, straw, watercress, roasted carrot, roasted parsnip, longan, and violet impressions.

Generally, Bai Ji Guan is a complex, vegetal tea with a sharp, crisp texture to its liquor, so this tea ticked all of the boxes. What I did not expect, however, was for it to be so superbly layered and balanced. There were actually some impressions present that I did not expect to perceive. Overall, this was a tremendously enjoyable and memorable tea and a very fine example of a traditional Bai Ji Guan. It was the equal of some of the more expensive teas of this type that one can find on the international market.

Okay, time to get another review out of the way and then head for bed. This was yet another early spring 2020 sipdown. I recall it being a tea I had been looking forward to trying for some time prior to actually making time for it. How did I end up liking it? Well, I enjoyed it tremendously. It actually exceeded my expectations. Though Qing Xin is a cultivar that is primarily used for oolong production, it actually is quite versatile, and while I was well aware of that prior to trying this tea, I was somewhat surprised to discover just how well it can work in the production of a green tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 158 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, custard, baked bread, grass, lilac, and snap peas. After the rinse, I detected aromas of butter and zucchini. The first infusion introduced aromas of lemon zest and asparagus. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of butter, cream, grass, zucchini, asparagus, and sugarcane that were chased by pleasant hints of custard, lemon zest, lilac, orange blossom, baked bread, violet, and sweet corn. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of cooked lettuce, spinach, cucumber, sweet corn, and lightly salty vegetable broth umami. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of lemon zest and sweet corn came out in the mouth alongside impressions of brothy umami, cooked lettuce, minerals, spinach, pear, green apple, yellow plum, and cucumber. I also picked up on hints of honey, vanilla, and seaweed. Notes of minerals, grass, cream, cooked lettuce, cucumber, spinach, brothy umami, and zucchini remained obvious as the tea faded, though they gave way to hints of butter, seaweed, lemon zest, honey, sugarcane, snap peas, and asparagus after each swallow.

While I wish that some of this tea’s lovely floral characteristics had been a little more apparent, I really could not find much else to fault with it. This was a truly lovely green tea from a place not typically renowned for its green tea production. The tea was aromatic, flavorful, balanced, firm, crisply textured, and very, very drinkable and relaxing. Overall, this offering was an absolute gem.

This was another of my early 2020 sipdowns. It was actually the tea I finished immediately after the Bihar Doke Silver Needle I just reviewed. I received a sample of it in a 2019 order from Teavivre, but I can’t confidently say whether or not it was a free sample or one I purchased as part of that particular order. I can say that I had never tried a Tan Yang Gong Fu prior to trying this one. I found this tea to be very enjoyable, so hopefully I will enjoy other teas of this type when I eventually get around to trying some more.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse (about 5 seconds), I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 fluid ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for each of these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, cedar, cocoa, smoke, straw, sweet potato, and molasses. After the rinse, I detected fresh aromas of butter, roasted almond, and roasted peanut. The first infusion introduced a baked bread aroma and fainter, less clearly defined scents of honey and sugarcane. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, straw, smoke, molasses, sweet potato, honey, cedar, roasted almond, and roasted peanut that were balanced by subtler impressions of coffee, sugarcane, roasted hazelnut, baked bread, butter, and caramel. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of cream, marshmallow, vanilla, pine, orange zest, roasted hazelnut, and caramel. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted hazelnut, butter, and caramel emerged in the mouth along with notes of cream, earth, minerals, pine, vanilla, orange zest, and marshmallow. Hints of tobacco, oats, raisin, and cocoa were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, malt, marshmallow, orange zest, cedar, pine, roasted hazelnut, and sweet potato that were chased by hints of roasted almond, butter, straw, cocoa, earth, sugarcane, honey, caramel, molasses, and roasted peanut.

This was an earthy yet surprisingly balanced and refined black tea with a very appealing sweetness. It reminded me a bit of Wuyi Jin Jun Mei in some respects, but this seemed to be a more reserved and more carefully layered sort of tea. I enjoyed it tremendously. I could see people who are into subtle, sophisticated black teas being impressed by this tea.

This was one of my sipdowns from the early months of 2020. I want to say I composed the notes for this review in either late March or early April. I know that I was drinking this tea either immediately before or immediately after Covidmania reached these parts. At the time, I wasn’t expecting much. My previous encounters with Doke teas had left me unimpressed. This tea, however, struck me as being great. I enjoyed it much more than the previous two reviewers.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of hay, straw, sugarcane, marshmallow, cedar, and eucalyptus. I also picked up a hint of smokiness in the background. After the rinse, aromas of cucumber, cannabis, butter, and roasted peanut emerged. In addition to the subtle smokiness in the background, I picked up another subtle scent that reminded me of sorghum molasses. The first infusion added mineral, cooked lettuce, pea, grass, and lemon zest aromas. In the mouth, the tea liquor initially offered notes of cream, butter, hay, smoke, straw, corn husk, cucumber, cooked lettuce, and grass before hints of cannabis, sorghum molasses, horehound, roasted peanut, and fresh peas started to emerge. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of malt, peppermint, plum, green apple, coriander, white grape, horehound, zucchini, corn husk, and orange zest. None of the previously mentioned flavors immediately faded or intensified, but new impressions of minerals, sugarcane, marshmallow, lemon zest, zucchini, coriander, orange zest, malt, white grape, sour plum, sour apricot, green apple, pear, and lychee appeared. Hints of cedar, peppermint oil, eucalyptus, and white pepper could be found as well. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, coriander, grass, cooked lettuce, green apple, cucumber, pear, lemon zest, sugarcane, white grape, cream, butter, zucchini, and straw that were chased by pleasant, lingering hints of horehound, sorghum molasses, malt, roasted peanut, orange zest, sour plum, hay, and peppermint oil.

Compared to the other Doke teas that I previously tried, this one was much more rewarding and likable. I appreciated that it had a very unique character; it was not all that comparable to the other Silver Needles that I tried prior to trying it. It did not even really have all that much in common with other Indian white teas. I also appreciated its relative lack of bitterness and astringency, characteristics that I had found to be distracting and unpleasant in other Doke teas. While the two previous reviewers seemed to enjoy this tea to a certain extent, I loved it. It was a very worthy offering.

This was the tea that I finished immediately prior to the Qi Lan I just reviewed. I know that I have said this over and over again, but Old Ways Tea sources Rou Gui that just does it for me. I have always found Rou Gui to be less appealing than other Wuyi oolong cultivars and have never quite understood its popularity. It’s not the most prestigious, most storied, or most expensive cultivar, but it is ridiculously popular in Wuyishan, so popular in fact that tea growers have actually removed older tea trees of rarer cultivars just to plant more Rou Gui. I know the cultivar’s popularity is probably due to its ubiquitousness, and it is ubiquitous because it’s seen as being hardy, dependable, and capable of prodigious production. It’s always available, and because there is so much of it out there, it’s usually comparatively cheap and very easy to obtain. As a matter of fact, one can’t really explore Wuyi tea and Wuyi tea culture without trying Rou Gui and developing an appreciation for it. I struggled with Rou Gui for the better part of 2 years before discovering Old Ways Tea, trying a couple of their Rou Gui, and finding my opinion of a tea I previously found overly earthy and woody changing. Their 2016 and 2017 Premium Rou Gui were the teas that really pushed me to develop an appreciation for the cultivar, and this 2018 Premium Rou Gui did nothing to make me re-evaluate the quality of their offerings. It was yet another exceptional tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, dark chocolate, smoke, pine, earth, charcoal, and blackberry. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, plum, black currant, roasted almond, and roasted peanut. The first infusion introduced a rock sugar aroma as well as subtle scents of blueberry and strawberry. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, pine, smoke, charcoal, blackberry, roasted almond, baked bread, and cream that were chased by hints of rock sugar, earth, roasted peanut, black cherry, black raspberry, plum, black currant, strawberry, dark chocolate, and red grape. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of red grape, caramel, leather, tobacco, charred oak, and roasted barley as well as a stronger strawberry aroma and subtle scents of coriander and nutmeg. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of roasted peanut, earth, dark chocolate, red grape, black cherry, black currant, and black raspberry emerged in the mouth with impressions of minerals, leather, tobacco, grass, charred oak, caramel, roasted barley, nutmeg, coriander, and orange zest in tow. Hints of blueberry, dried cranberry, popcorn, and candied ginger were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize mineral, earth, cream, baked bread, charcoal, orange zest, roasted barley, roasted almond, caramel, and pine notes that were gradually overwhelmed by a swell of lingering grass, roasted peanut, blackberry, black cherry, tobacco, black raspberry, coriander, leather, cinnamon, popcorn, and charred oak impressions.

An almost unbelievably deep, rich, complex, and filling tea, this one was a challenge to analyze. There was just so much to take in with it. Despite that, it never struck me as being unbalanced or overwhelming. Quite simply, this was an excellent Rou Gui. Make a point of trying some of Old Ways Tea’s Premium Rou Gui if you have yet to do so.

Time to get back on here and get a few more reviews posted. My free time has been virtually nonexistent the last several days, so I have not been able to get anything posted on Steepster. I don’t want to fall behind again after making such great progress over the last month or so, thus I am staying up tonight to bring everyone some new reviews. You’re welcome.

This was one of my sipdowns from late 2020/early 2021. I think it was from my second attempt at reducing the number of samples from Old Ways Tea that I had lying around the house. I’m generally a huge fan of Qi Lan and tend to think that Old Ways Tea handles the cultivar quite well. This one was another winner.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of charcoal, smoke, cinnamon, dried cherry, and black raspberry. After the rinse, aromas of orchid, ash, cannabis, and blackberry emerged. The first infusion introduced aromas of baked bread, roasted peanut, and toasted rice. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of charcoal, cinnamon, smoke, black raspberry, toasted rice, roasted peanut, orchid, and blackberry that were balanced by hints of coffee, cannabis, dark chocolate, cream, grass, ash, blueberry, plum, and dried cherry. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of coffee, dark chocolate, plum, blueberry, orange zest, and roasted almond in addition to subtle aromas of popcorn and cooked spinach. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of coffee, cream, dark chocolate, plum, dried cherry, and blackberry emerged in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, baked bread, roasted almond, apricot, peach, rock sugar, orange zest, caramel, Asian pear, pomegranate, and nutmeg. I also detected hints of butter, popcorn, red apple, and spinach. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, roasted almond, cream, baked bread, toasted rice, orange zest, caramel, rock sugar, and dried cherry that were chased by subtler impressions of black raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, grass, orchid, charcoal, roasted peanut, pomegranate, butter, and popcorn.

This was a very complex tea. It was not the most focused tea of this type that I have tried, but its hyperactive, constantly shifting flavor profile was tremendously appealing. Qi Lan can often be balanced, restrained, and subtle, frequently emphasizing aroma over flavor and texture, but this was a very flavorful, exuberant tea that was consistently engaging. While there were times it could have reined everything in a bit, this tea was an absolute joy to drink and pick apart.

Here is another review of a Yunnan white tea that I drank back in the spring of 2020. This was the last of those teas that I drank before moving on to a whole bunch of Chinese black teas and oolongs. Interestingly enough, this was also the first loose leaf Yue Guang Bai from Yunnan Sourcing that I tried. I had tried some of their Yue Guang Bai dragon balls in the past, but never their regular loose leaf version. I found it to be a very good offering. I have no clue why I never got around to trying any of the previous productions.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a standard 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 180 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minutes 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of hay, wood, marshmallow, cinnamon, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, new aromas of peanut, butter, and straw emerged. The first infusion introduced aromas of cream, oats, and cucumber. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of hay, wood, straw, grass, cream, oats, wheat toast, and cucumber that were balanced by subtler impressions of peanut, malt, butter, and eucalyptus. The majority of the following infusions added aromas of malt, grass, coriander, lemon zest, basil, apple, and wheat toast to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of malt, peanut, and eucalyptus emerged in the mouth with mineral, coriander, basil, watermelon rind, vanilla, honeydew, plum, marshmallow, apple, pear, almond, lemon zest, and sugarcane notes in tow. A hint of cinnamon was left on the back of the throat after each swallow. As the tea faded, the liquor continued emphasizing notes of malt, minerals, wheat toast, wood, hay, cucumber, cream, lemon zest, and sugarcane that were chased by hints of grass, almond, oats, apple, plum, pear, honeydew, and watermelon rind.

This was not the smoothest or most balanced Yue Guang Bai I have ever tried, but it was extremely aromatic and flavorful. The tea liquor displayed good body and texture in the mouth, and the tea also displayed incredible longevity in a lengthy gongfu session. This one was a winner in my book.

Okay, time for another review from the incrementally shrinking backlog. This one comes from either April or May of 2020. I was drinking a ton of white tea at the time, so unlike some of my other recently posted reviews, I have a relatively good idea of when this one was initially composed. With regard to the quality of the tea, it was more or less great. I am a huge fan of Feng Qing Silver Needles, and this was a production that was well worth my time.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 fluid ounces of 180 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, hay, marshmallow, straw, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, aromas of wood, peanut, lemon, and sugarcane appeared. The first infusion introduced aromas of butter and cream, while the previously noted peanut aroma intensified. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of peanut, wood, cream, hay, butter, and straw that were chased by hints of lemon, malt, marshmallow, and eucalyptus. The majority of the following infusions were responsible for adding aromas of vanilla, cinnamon, oats, lychee, and honeydew to the tea’s bouquet. Slightly stronger and more immediately detectable notes of malt, lemon, marshmallow, and eucalyptus emerged in the mouth, while impressions of minerals, puff pastry, vanilla, white pepper, cinnamon, sugarcane, oats, lychee, honeydew, and plum made themselves known. I was also able to pick out hints of apricot, pear, watermelon rind, cantaloupe, and white peach. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, wood, straw, peanut, cream, butter, oats, and eucalyptus that were backed up by fleeting hints of sugarcane, lychee, honeydew, cinnamon, hay, white pepper, pear, vanilla, and watermelon rind.

Feng Qing Silver Needle is almost always a pleasant and approachable tea with a lot of subtle depth and complexity, and this spring 2018 offering was very much a tea in that particular mold. While it did not surprise me in any way, I found it to be a very drinkable, easygoing tea with considerable and surprising longevity and gently invigorating energy. It would be hard to find a better Yunnan Silver Needle of any sort at this price point.

This was another of my fall 2020 sipdowns. I wanted to end my day with a review of a very unique tea, and I figured that posting this one would do. This black tea from Feng Qing Dian Hong in Lincang was produced from a hybrid of local Feng Qing Assamica and Shui Xian plants from Wu Yi Shan. The result was a very interesting and satisfying tea that maintained some of the characteristics I typically associate with Wu Yi Shui Xian and stood apart from the more familiar Feng Qing black teas.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, straw, honey, sugarcane, and malt. After the rinse, new aromas of smoke, roasted almond, and roasted peanut emerged along with a subtle geranium scent. The first infusion then introduced a pear aroma and a subtle apple scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cinnamon, baked bread, butter, straw, honey, malt, and roasted almond that were backed by hints of red apple, smoke, blackberry, plum, sugarcane, horehound, and red grape. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of red grape, blackberry, mulberry, blueberry, plum, baked bread, violet, and chocolate as well as a subtle scent reminiscent of horehound. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of red apple, blackberry, red grape, sugarcane, and plum emerged in the mouth alongside mineral, earth, violet, roasted peanut, pear, cream, chocolate, mulberry, caramel, and orange zest impressions. There were also hints of geranium, blueberry, and menthol that were especially noticeable on the back of the throat after each swallow. As the tea faded, the liquor persisted in emphasizing notes of minerals, malt, cream, baked bread, roasted almond, roasted peanut, earth, orange zest, red grape, and pear that were chased by lingering hints of cinnamon, sugarcane, honey, red apple, plum, caramel, blackberry, and menthol.

This was one of the most unique Feng Qing black teas I have ever tried, and that is saying something considering that Feng Qing cranks out some of the most unique and consistently appealing black teas that Yunnan Province has to offer from year to year. I especially appreciated this tea’s unique mix of fruity, floral, and herbal qualities. I am not certain that this tea could stand shoulder to shoulder with some of Feng Qing’s most celebrated offerings, but it was a very likable and appealing tea in its own right. I will definitely be trying more recent productions of it when I get the opportunity.

I’m dipping a little further into my 2020/2021 review notebook for this one. This was one of my sipdowns from the spring of 2020, probably from either April or May. I was drinking a lot of white tea at the time, so I’m guessing that this review comes from that time of the year. It might actually be from March. I have no way of knowing. Anyway, this was a very good, very solid Yunnan Bai Mu Dan.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the loose leaf and bud mix in 4 fluid ounces of 180 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud mix emitted aromas of hay, grass, straw, eucalyptus, cedar, and sugarcane. After the rinse, new aromas of peanut, celery, malt, and butter emerged on the nose. The first infusion introduced aromas of oats and lemon rind. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of hay, grass, malt, cream, peanut, oats, and butter that were balanced by hints of cedar, celery, straw, and eucalyptus. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of tree bark, vanilla, cream, and mint. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of celery and straw came out in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, lemon rind, tree bark, almond, honeydew, pear, sour apricot, watermelon rind, and plum. Hints of vanilla, mint, wintergreen oil, and marshmallow were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, hay, malt, grass, lemon rind, peanut, watermelon rind, cream, and butter that were chased by hints of vanilla, almond, straw, celery, honeydew, and pear.

This was a pleasant and incredibly drinkable Yunnan white tea. Compared to the previous spring’s production, this offering was sweeter, fruitier, and better balanced. I liked them both, but this one was noticeably better.