24 Tasting Notes
A fine, drinkable, everyday Japanese green. I’d only bother to steep in my kyusu once though, as some less-desirable characteristics are extracted after the first steeping. In general, it’s fairly “green” and moderately astringent, but when fresh it can still be enjoyable. That said, considering I feel confident with a second steeping with higher-grade teas from Hibiki-an, I’d recommend just buying those, which will not only be better to serve guests, but you can brew more of it from the same dose of tea.
Preparation
Really nice and stewy sheng pu erh from EoT. It has a really nice umami component not to dissimilar from a high-quality japanese sencha, along with a silky and moderately thick mouthfeel, with a slightly reedy component. Very drinkable at 4 years old, and it shines in my gaiwan. I can’t suggest a better fall/winter tea, as the bitterness is only present when oversteeping, which isn’t as easy to do as with some raw pu erhs out there, even from older vintages. Despite it being a sheng, I honestly get some sweeter notes similar to a chocolatey, tippy Yunnan black/gold bud. Great pu erh to get into raw pu erhs with. One of my favorite teas I own; I get excited thinking of how it’ll be in a couple years. I’m considering getting more to store.
Flavors: Bread, Broth, Chicken Soup, Chocolate, Dark Wood, Earth, Mushrooms, Roasted Barley, Roasted Chicken, Toffee, Vegetable Broth
Preparation
Nice review. I was considering purchasing this tea. Did you notice any aged flavors? Like leathery or Chinese traditional medicine-type flavors?
To me, it’s neither definitively “young” nor “aged”, yet answering how far it is along the aging process puts me out of my depths. It’s certainly more drinkable and mellow than my 2007 wild arbor Mengku, but I don’t trust that to be a good yardstick for aged characteristics. There are some oolong and red tea notes to it, and it’s far from being vegetal, yet there’s nothing I personally identify to be strongly leathery or medicinal.
