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I’ll start off by saying I brewed this in the Jian Shui and I usually don’t like reviewing teas with the added variable of brewing in clay for obvious reasons. Taste being the most drastic.

So, I cracked into my cake after taking the day off yesterday and threw a bunch of this in the Jian Shui. Smooth, sweet and soft. All while maintaining a thick body throughout the session. Tastes were strong but lacking in bitterness. The lack of Qi was of note. Some mouthfeel.

Overall, I think this is a pleasantly easy drinker. Again, I prefer to brew in the Gaiwan to review but I wanted to use my clay teapot for a long day of drinking. I should review this tea again down the road.

Bought a cake of this a whim based off of the amazing 2015 production.

Many similarities come to mind, but mostly the sweats. They started after cup one and heat followed, it’s going to be a ride. Love the energy in this one, cannot say enough. Flavors are all there with a small hint of aged flavors. Took me almost 2 years to crack into this one and it is well worth it.

Manure comes to mind, but more of a woody manure rather than an stringent/green manure. Strong earthy tones are noticeable.

Like mouthfeel? Starts in the back, moves to the middle and then again to the back and it doesn’t die out. Between the energy and mouthfeel, I would recommend this tea to anybody who doesn’t know what puerh is or what Qi is. On top of that it has plenty of flavor and is a very deep tea not lacking in any aspects.

Try it, regret and Huang Shan cannot be used in the same sentence.

What a wonderful example of a good Autumn sheng.

You can tell from this tea how powerful these leaves are. There is much less of a dropoff from steep to steep compared to most Autumn productions. My front pallet is salivating while the back of my pallet is also ringing, great mouthfeel. Great energy, wouldn’t have expected this type of energy from a Autumn.

Fantastic example of how great Autumn sheng can be. This is easily the best Autumn I have tried. Expansive mouthfeel with great energy and flavor. 10 steeps deep and still pushing, VERY nice surprise for low initial expectations.

I would say the only characteristic in this tea relative to other Autumn productions I have tried is the flavor… Light sweetgrass-like scent and taste which is accompanied by a subtle astringency.

Wish I had more, but I will now need to try the Spring version of this tea.

After several years of anticipation, I’ve finally gotten this tea in my cup.

Initial wafting of the dry leaves met me with freshness (almost menthol) that was unexpected for a tea of this age. I’ve not tried any Essence of Tea puerh before so I am not accustomed to what the storage taste may be. Waited about 2 weeks to air this out and threw it in the Jian Shui (my semi-aged sheng pot).

Now, I went this entire session with a somewhat confused demeanor. Any previously sampled semi-aged sheng that I have had did not resembled this at all; this tea was different. What a friendly tea. I still do not really know what stands this one on it’s own… Lacking smokiness and almost all astringency, it makes for a very consistent brew similar to other semi-aged sheng in my experience.

Wasn’t taken back by the energy, but I usually drink a lot more leaf per session. All-in-all I had a great 15-20 steeps of this and it was still giving when pushed to 20-30 second steeps.

Earthy tones and subtle fruit led this to please me very much for about an hour.

I waited patiently for about 2 weeks to try this YS sampling.. it was worth it.

Brewed Gung-Fu style in a gaiwan. This tea opened up very quickly, after only the 2nd infusion I had very strong mouthfeeling (further toward the throat than I am used to) as well as cha qi. Experiencing this tea through the first 10 infusions left a very heady feeling and was very stimulating.

Slight bitterness/astringency through the first 10 infusions. This tea stayed mostly consistent for the 20 steep session, but I highlight the lack of any astringency/biterness after about 10 steepings and more into vanilla-like tones.

Very exciting tea, can’t wait to enjoy this again.

Grabbed this one for work today. I don’t think I will again, this tea seems much to delicate and was a waste to drink at work under the wrong circumstances.

At any rate, grabbed too much leaf again and I’m not going to waste any so I was forced to fill half the cup with leaf. Wasn’t so heart-throbbing as I would anticipate with that much leaf. I guess that and the lack of consistent bitterness (apart from the first cup lack of any bitterness) plus the sweet dirt tones are all signs of Yiwu, in my experience anyway.

I drank a whole cake of 2005 “Big Green Tree” over the past few months at work and that being a daily Yiwu drinker I thought I’d go for this one. Would prefer to save this one for the gaiwan or jianshui and get some more Big Green Tree for work… as far as Yiwu is involved.

Keep this one to finer brewing.

Been a while since I’ve done one of these…

Opened my humidor to grab some tea before work today, I like taking younger sheng because I “grandpa Style” brew at work and I’d prefer drinking tea leaves that are in tact and not in pieces.

So took of what I thought was a regular amount of leaves for the day. Threw it in and pour boiled water on it (not very careful with metrics for grandpa drinking). First brew was like a few shots of espresso. Second pour was like doing cocaine. Third pour had me killing the game at work. The rest is history.

All this energy and all this flavor. So much leaf, maybe too much. So hot, so cold, so sweaty. All of this, but not without much bitterness you’d find in Menghai type teas. I think I need to get some more of this tea for the simple thrill of Grandpa brews at work. This is a winner and is still sweet and fruity towards the tail end of the brew sesh. All the while, maintaining a steady flow of astringency to coat the pallet for hours on end.

Grandpa Style- Approved
Gong Fu Style- Approved
Helps you relax ‘Style’- Rejected

Revisiting this one “Grandpa style”…

Still a most enjoyable drink, but there is a lack of energy and mouthfeel. I was kind of dissapointed that this was in my cup this morning just because I wanted a pick me up and I chose this. Sweet and unique, however no energy.

I am going to replace it after a little bit with something to pump me up for work (if that’s possible).

This was the first sheng I sampled from this vendor and I feel that it set the bar high for the rest of the productions. This is my favorite of the group for several specific reasons, but also as an overall.

Mouth numbing quality of this tea is very strong and is accompanied by astringent and light smoky/nutty qualities. Great combination of flavors. Clean taste and a thick liquor making for a smooth drink. The tea energy is sufficient, but not overwhelming. The later steeps are that of light fruit tones and soft bitter finish.

Really enjoyed this, and really contemplating buying some of this.