145 Tasting Notes

I had the pleasure of trying this tea with JC this afternoon, along with several others. The leaves were a nice olive green and had those typical fresh sheng pu notes of fresh sweet grass, light floral, and something almost metallic. Early steeps had a soft texture, but revealed pleasant bittersweet grass and floral notes with some stone fruit and nice cooling effects between each sip. This tea is thick and has good cha qi, both of which along with kuwei and mouthfeel increase with each steep.

This is powerful stuff. Definitely not for someone with a gentle stomach. I am happy I tried this tea, but like many new shengs I think it needs time to settle into its own. Right now, it’s a very typical Mengku tea and not super outstanding yet. I can see its fruiter and cooling aspects shining through after a year or so. Definitely worth getting a sample of before the price goes up.

JC

Agreed! It was good, but it was rough. I think it should air for a few months. We can try the rest of the sample them and see how’s doing. Lots of Cha Qi and fair lasting huigan.

mrmopar

Lucky dogs…

JC

mrmopar. If you are ever up for meeting up for tea just let us know!

tanluwils

I second that.

mrmopar

I just have to find the time to be able to do it. I may get a wild hair and see if I cn do this trip.

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I’ve had a hard time gauging the Wu Liang region. I’ve enjoyed several of YS’s Wu Liang green teas, but found Scott’s 2013 and 2014 Wu Liangs sheng pu’ercha to be too candy sweet for me to enjoy these teas’ other attributes. This year, I gave the region another chance, and I was pleasantly rewarded with something special.

This is one of the most elegant and unique sheng pu’ercha I’ve had yet. The dried leaves are of the primordial middle-small leaf varietal from that region and they have a sweet grass and orchid-like sent which is greatly amplified and accompanied by sweet butter after the first rinse.

To get a better sense of the tea I drink the rinse. The tea soup is so clear and pure tasting, my eyes get wider in anticipation for the awesomeness that is about to unfold. My initial thoughts were “pleasant old tree green tea”, but that changed once the tea revealed a thick viscosity, luxurious mouthfeel, powerful qi, and complex notes of chardonnay white grape skins, sandalwood, tobacco, dandelion greens, wild orchids, and sweet butter.

There’s great mouth activity and vibrations that extends to the throat. It’s a very pure, concentrated, and vibrant tea that should gain complexity with time—-and I think the best value per dollar among all of Scott’s 2016 line.

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Quite a unique tea. I’ve finished my sample bag a few months back, but realized I hadn’t shared my notes. The dried leaves are large, intact, and have a pleasant floral scent. After the rinse, the floral/grassy scent is stronger and accompanied by sweet hay and hint of dried tomatoes. The tea brews a very clear darker gold hue and has a clean, refreshing taste. This tea is dynamic in the mouth—flavors and tingly sensations dancing on all parts of the tongue. It’s medium bodied with a pleasurable mouthfeel and qi.

The first thing I noticed was it’s slightly mid-aged taste—more notes of sweet sandalwood, sweet hay, vine tomatoes, autumn flowers, brown sugar, and raw honey. I am not experienced enough to tell whether this more aged taste resulted from processing or terrior, but it does have a very interesting flavor profile I have yet to come across. I’ve let this tea sit for months after the first and second sessions. It’s much improved since then, which makes me wonder how it would taste at this juncture.

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This sample arrived as a cluster of intact, long spindly leaves from the gently compressed edge of a cake that appears to have been processed with finesse. When dry, the leaves have a faint floral and sweet grass aroma. When dry, there is a nutty aroma of steamed Chinese mustard greens and fall wild flowers. I’ve noticed how flavor and overall visual impact are enhanced whenever leaves are pressed in a way that preserves their structural integrity.

The first few steeps have what I would describe as layered vegetal bitterness (steamed dandelion greens and wild herbs) with accents of floral notes. There is a three-dimensional aspect to this tea’s mouthfeel. Subtle cooling vibrations are initially felt at the back of the tongue then move simultaneously to middle and the roof of the mouth. Decent qi on this one that’s as grounding as it is heady, but never overwhelming.

Sampling Scott’s 2016 line has allowed me to learn that some teas under 1 year old are best left to rest for a year after being pressed. Right now, the 2015 Huang Shan Gu Shu is showing much improvement in terms of flavors, texture, and fragrance than it had this past spring.
I think this tea, along with the 2016 Da Qing Gu Shu and CLT’s 2016 Hidden Song (coming soon), needs more time to rest so that individual flavors and textures can be further developed and enjoyed. It seems only right that to treat good teas with a bit of respect and patience. I will update this log next year.

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I used my points in my Yunomi account to purchase 200g of this tea. It’s simple, nutrient-dense, consistent, and has a long aftertaste. In some ways, this tea reminds me of a kabuse-cha more than a sencha. The dry leaves include long dark leaves with stems that are less chopped and have a scent of roasted seaweed and faint sweet seagrass.

I brewed this in a unglazed kyusu but using Chinese gongfu-style with 2 – 5 sec steeps, hotter water (85 to 90 C), and 6 – 7 grams of leaves.

It yields more steeps (about 6 or so depending on how much leaf used), as the leaves release their flavors more gradually since they’re not chopped, than regular sencha. The result is less up front astringency and leaves that yield more gentle and savory notes of baked grains and a faint nuttiness in the first steep. Later steeps gave roasted zucchini and asparagus along with some of that savory roasted nori in the aftertaste. Wonderful morning pick-me-up!

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Thick, tasty, aged, and low-priced shu. It arrived as two 225 g bricks with layers of largely intact leaves are easily pried apart. Initial rinses have a faint fermented smell but that is gone after the 2nd rinse and replaced by an aroma of sweet creamed butter. Tea liquor is dark burgundy and clear. It’s very comfortable in the mouth and throat and quite warming. Along with notes of sweet creamed butter, leather, sweet bamboo, and damp forest there is also noticeable qi and mouth activity. Perfect evening tea.

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I appreciate sheng with depth, power, and kuwei, or pleasant bitterness. I might as well admit that I am a total sucker for descriptions/tales of teas that come from remote mountains—especially if they’re accompanied by photos. Scott knows this well. Needless to say, I had high expectations for this tea.

The dried leaves in my sample are mid-sized spindly tendrils that smell of sweet grass and wild flowers. Wet leaves are of a candied, high floral aroma. Steeps 1 to 6 start out soft and candy-like, then quickly turn towards a dandelion greens-type of bitterness quickly replaced by high sweet floral and raw honey notes. After steep 2 the tea soup becomes thick and heavy with with the sweet (floral), bitter (dandelion greens), and savory mingling together.

Those flavors are accompanied by a delightful, saliva-inducing, very strong mouthfeel that quickly fills the mouth and throat and lingers for a long time after drinking. It’s as euphoric as it is tranquil. The energy is out of this world. It sets in my entire body. I am transported back to that remote, high altitude forest whence these leaves came. At this point, I don’t care where they came from because this is powerful stuff.

Edit: I recommend very short 5 sec steeps until 6. As the bitterness increases with each steep so does the huigan and mouth feel. The empty cup and cha hai are covered in an intense tropical orchid fragrance. I can see this tea becoming more textured and impactful in the coming years.

JC

“Wet leaves are of a candied, high floral aroma” sigh ‘Dammit!’ adds to cart

mrmopar

Yeah, I am already going to get shot when I place the next order…..adds more to cart…..

tanluwils

You two did the right thing. :) These trees do not appear to be over picked. This tea is wonderfully deep and pure. It seemed much more aromatic than the others I’ve tried and the bitterness/huigan is just exquisite.

Simon Sim

I am delighted with this too. I got a full cake and is considering to buy the 2017 edition.

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This one is solid. Despite having absorbed some of those off-putting ‘aged’ prune/leather/medicinal flavors of EoT’s other cakes, the underlying quality of the leaves are clear. There is a very solid base in these leaves that is indicative of old trees. The tasting experience isn’t entirely compromised by those initial storage flavors. After the 4th or 5th steep the tea’s unique flavors are revealed—raisins, menthol, cedar wood, and green apple. There is substantial body, prolonged aftertaste, big cha qi and dynamic mouth activity (cooling and tingly sensations) here. This tea performs exceptionally well in my Ni Xing teapot. This clay in particular subdues those storage flavors and releveals more of those fruity notes and fragrances. I got at least 15 steeps out of this tea and a distinct fragrance of honey crisp apples. It’s a bit out of my budget, but I’m glad I could at least sample this tea.

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Bio

My ever expanding list of obsessions, passions, and hobbies:

Tea, cooking, hiking, plants, East Asian ceramics, fine art, Chinese and Central Asian history, environmental sustainability, traveling, foreign languages, meditation, health, animals, spirituality and philosophy.

I drink:
young sheng pu’er
green tea
roasted oolongs
aged sheng pu’er
heicha
shu pu’er
herbal teas (not sweetened)

==

Personal brewing methods:

Use good mineral water – Filter DC’s poor-quality water, then boil it using maifan stones to reintroduce minerals。 Leaf to water ratios (depends on the tea)
- pu’er: 5-7 g for 100 ml
(I usually a gaiwan for very young sheng.)
- green tea: 2-4 g for 100 ml
- oolong: 5-7 g for 100 ml
- white tea: 2-4 g for 100 ml
- heicha: 5-6 g for 100 ml
(I occasionally boil fu cha a over stovetop for a very rich and comforting brew.)

Location

Washington, DC

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