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Probably my least favorite FL tea yet. I wanted to love it because the initial flavor is gorgeous and the smell of the wet leaves is dried fruit heaven! Main issue is that the flavor fell off after the first couple of steeps. Otherwise, it’s a nice tea.

Mouthfeel is juicy with no bitterness and medium-low astringency. Aftertaste doesn’t last too long either.

Another Jingmai tea – their specialty. This one is called “shengtai,” which means a natural gardening technique was used.

If Jingmai teas are known for being light, then this one might be considered light for Jingmai :). No cake for this one…

Wet leaf: Dried kiwi, dried apricot.

Another quite nice tea from FL! I’m really vibing with their teas. This one comes from a small village just across the border from Yiwu in Laos called Huey Wa. The farmer’s name there is Houngkeo. First time trying a Laotian tea! Supposed to have similarities to Yiwu tea for a fraction of the price (this one is $0.10/g!). I certainly see the similarity, but the mouthfeel is not as nice as some Yiwu I’ve had. Can’t tell if that’s the age or location for this one, though.

No bitterness and trace astringency. Mild flavor to start that increases to medium intensity by infusion 5-6. Sweet and fruity, with a medium-low to medium mouthfeel.

Probably worth the money to cake this hehe :).

Another PJ sample. This one starts out quite nice, but flavor mellows out a good bit by infusion 6 and never seems to climax. What flavor there is is quite nice and fruity, but fairly simple.

Mouthfeel is low-decent. No bitterness and mild astringency.

A bit disappointed with this one after loving the first couple of steeps.

Fresh order from FL just arrived and I’m very excited to try some of their teas. All the samples I got were 2021-2022, so quite fresh. This one is the first sheng I’ve tried under the “magical” 2 year age.

I’ve heard online that Jingmai shengs are quite mild, so I was expecting that. In this sample, that certainly rings true at the start, but intensity and complexity ramp up rapidly to shatter that prejudice.

A smooth tea with medium-low bitterness and medium astringency. An undertone of sweetness is present from the first infusion. Mouthfeel is that complex, exquisite paradox wherein the tea feels full and wet, but on swallowing, leaves the perfect level of astringency to make you crave more. Aftertaste is sweet and lasts minutes.The leaves are large and fairly whole with stems still attached. Liquor is very light yellow as expected. Progression is robust with the flavor intensity increasing until about infusion 5-6, when it then plateaus before declining. 12+ infusions.

Apparently, Nanzuo is the smallest village on Jingmai mountain. This tea has leaves from the small factory of You Guo, who lives in Nanzuo and is a friend of William and Yubai. One of the most interesting parts of this sample set is the ability to try teas from different terroirs and see how microclimates and soil variation might affect the flavor.

Now THIS is a sheng! Another sample from PJ and loving it! Very similar to his 2009 Forever Zen, but better flavor.

Wonderful mouthfeel from square one. Very heavy like you have to suck the tea out of the pinming. Then the tea presses on the sides of your tongue and sits like my under-hit putts sit feet from the hole (lol). No bitterness and medium-low astringency. 12+ infusions easily. Aftertaste is sweet. Can even use boiling temps with this one, although it (as expected) increases the astringency a bit. Perhaps try a bit more leaf next time?

There are some fascinating, distinct aromas to the dry and wet leaf that I still can’t place. The wet leaf aroma is unique as far as teas go and not particularly reminiscent of anything. The dry leaf aroma has a component similar to vanilla, but it’s more than that.

This one is another from the Banzhang Zhengshan TF, but PJ doesn’t provide us with any more info on this tea than that. I haven’t gotten the hype about gushu/ancient trees from the few samples I’ve tried, but this tea gives me new hope for this sought-after category of tea. Unfortunately, this tea isn’t listed for sale separate from the sampler on his website, but fingers crossed it becomes available :). I can’t find it via Google search elsewhere.

Second free sample from PS. Bitter and not pleasant to drink. Flavor is mild/absent beyond that. Lots of stems and leaf bits. Not a great tea imo.

Stopped after infusion 6 so as not to waste too much stomach real estate.

One of two free samples sent with my recent order. I definitely like this tea, especially for the price of only $0.05/g. No bad fermentation notes from the get-go. Sweet throughout. Simple fruity, earthy flavor as with many other shous.

Mouthfeel is decently thick. Not much of an aftertaste. Longevity is good at 10+ infusions.

Will need to sit on this one before deciding if I will cake.

Another one from Banzhang Zhengshan TF. Very, very different from the last sample. This tea is from Manzhuan, one of the six famous tea mountains.

This one also doesn’t show it’s age, but doesn’t need to. The liquor is light, but artfully restrained with no bitterness to speak of. Mouthfeel and sweet aftertaste are wonderful, especially if letting the tea cool as recommended by the Puerh Junky himself. The viscosity of the tea is as if I’m eating jello.

An understated tea that is very calming to drink, as implied by the name. However, there is not much flavor, so I enjoy this mostly for the mouthfeel/experience. I will reserve my final judgment, however, until further experimentation. Despite PJ’s recommendations, more leaf and time might better suit my tastes.

Order of the Banzhang Zhengshan TF sampler from PJ just arrived yesterday and I’m super excited to try all these teas out. Supposedly, this is a newer, boutique factory that started in 2006.

This tea is pretty bitter for a 15 yo tea. Bitterness is medium with medium-low astringency. Bitterness does ameliorate starting at infusion 6, but the flavor that’s left isn’t phenomenal. Leaves smell of vanilla. Mouthfeel is nothing special.

Not a bad tea, but not very impressed with it either. Not super complex to my palate and tastes more like a 5 yo sheng than a 15 yo one. Perhaps that would make it good for aging, but if I’m not loving the undernotes, I don’t plan on caking it. On to the next sample…

Sample from fresh PS order. While my experience with puerh is not great enough to tell how dry storage vs wet storage should affect the flavor, this does seem like a fairly green tea for its age. Only trace bitterness though does seem to indicate that it has some age. Nice flavor overall.

Mouthfeel is only mildly thick, and even less so for its age. Stopped after infusion 8. I will say that this is the first time I’ve experienced what I assume others refer to as “cha qi,” and it was quite overpowering. Perhaps this also indicates it has some age to it?

That said, if I could sum the flavor of this tea up in one word, it would be “boring.” I wonder if/how much the storage conditions affect this experience. Not bad and pleasant to drink, but not the tea for me in the end. I have heard some people don’t trust PS’s reliability with older cakes such as this one…