This was kind of a mistake of a purchase for me. I bought a smaller quantity (100 grams) off of Amazon to see if I enjoy sheng puehr, in preparation for my next order of teas from Yunnan Sourcing. I have been suspecting that I might find very young sheng puerh to be enjoyable, because I absolutely love green teas and young sheng is perhaps similar to a green tea with something a little “extra” added. The problem here is that probably shouldn’t have purchased a 2010 aged sheng puerh to see whether or not young sheng puerh is something I would like. And furthermore, buying from Goartea I know I’m probably not finding the greatest example of a good tea, but I have purchased other teas from them before and I have generally been satisfied with the quality of this vendor’s teas. Wouldn’t expect them to be 100% authentic or top-shelf, but I find them to be not a bad deal for the price.
Anyways, experimenting with this tea, smelling the dry leaf I very much notice the “aged” aroma. Kind of the tea version of smelling old library books. I really like the “dragon ball” style of tea processing, and I think it is really convenient and makes more sense to me than buying teas in the larger cake format. For this reason, I have been eyeing White2Tea’s offerings as a possible alternative to Yunnan Sourcing – They seem to offer most of their teas as dragon balls, which is awesome. But Yunnan Sourcing has better taste in the artwork on the wrappers, so difficult decision, LOL. Also, I like how Yunnan Sourcing gives more details on the source gardens and picking season/grade of each tea, with the exception of “secret garden” offerings.
Brewing this tea, I drank the rinse a time or two (after a 30-second or even 1-minute rinse – leaves open up slowly and sometimes I used a lower 175-degree temp), and I was actually intrigued by a nice thicker texture and pleasant nectar-like sweetness which emerged in the very very light yellowish-orange liquor at that point. Almost what I was looking for in sheng puerh! Something green tea-like, but different. Alas, the intriguing sweetness and texture was there in these early steeps, but without much flavor or overall interest to back it up. Then when I give it a second, third, or even fourth brew (at varying lengths, but largely with similar results), I got something more akin to a very woody tasting black tea, with some mushroom earthiness. Not quite as much earthiness as the “cooked” puerhs I have tried, but it is there. The woody notes somewhat remind me of English Tea Store’s Scottish Breakfast blend I had years ago, in which the woody notes I understand come from Chingwo County orange pekoe black tea. There is also some sweetness, but definitely a bittersweet thing going on here. Sadly, not finding much in the way of florals or fruitiness. I especially enjoy floral teas.
I find this tea to be kind of lackluster, which isn’t surprising given I didn’t pay very much for it, and it is from a generic tea vendor. And it totally doesn’t answer my question for me, either, which is whether or not I might enjoy the world of young shengs. Doh!
Planning another Yunnan Sourcing order in about a month or so, and I will definitely buy a 2023 or 2024 young sheng or two to try – maybe a 2023 and a 2024? I don’t know.
