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“edit: on further reflection, the mold may have just been tea dust. Oh well. Doesn’t hurt to be safe. Thanks Kar for the sample! I drank part of the sample some time ago grandpa’d in a mug and I...” Read full tasting note
This 2006 Double Lion is from the same collaboration between the Nanqiao factory and the Qiu Xiang teahouse that produced the 2005 Double Lion, with material collected by the Qiu Xiang proprietors. Though it is not quite at the same level as the 2005 Double Lion, this 2006 cake is an excellent proposition for the price. Another very good example of natural Malaysian storage, this batch has been stored a bit more aggressively than the 2005 and drinks like a slightly older tea. It has a clear Bulang profile, with strong but not overwhelming bitterness. The tasting panel really enjoyed the richness and depth from the storage on this batch.
357g cake, most wrappers are in better condition than the one shown, but there will be imperfections with storage like this.
edit: on further reflection, the mold may have just been tea dust. Oh well. Doesn’t hurt to be safe.
Thanks Kar for the sample!
I drank part of the sample some time ago grandpa’d in a mug and I don’t remember much other than that it was okay. I’m pretty sure I didn’t rinse, and it looked fine. Tasted like aged sheng mushroominess, nothing special.
I’ve kept the rest of the sample with a Boveda pack in a Mylar with some other to-drink-soon samples and so you can imagine my horror upon taking the rest of it out to brew and seeing small yellow mold spores. Did I do the smart thing and toss it? No, I just gave it two 20s rinses instead of one and hoped for the best.
I didn’t take notes for it, but it was a bit over 8g in a 90mL gaiwan, steeped like I usually do. Smell had sour, leather, and mushroom-y aged sheng notes. Broadly, tastes were pretty strongly bitter (not LME level, but still bitter) and mushroom-y, sometimes sour and lingered for a while in mouth and sometimes throat, which I know is a good marker of quality, but in terms of personal preference for what constitutes pleasantness/enjoyment is a different story. Sometimes cooling on tongue. Some shifting woody herbaceous notes along with hints of dark fruitiness and smoke. I didn’t particularly like this and would not purchase a cake, but it was interesting to try.
Lots of hype on this one. I have wondered about this one myself.
Yeah, the hype is always interesting. Since I knew it was Bulang material, it never tempted me to blind a cake. And for per gram price and given that shipping from TW is rather expensive, I’d rather pay a little extra and get YQH teas that are more in line with my preferences.
I did buy a 2005 sample from Kar too, so curious to see how that compares. Although I believe it just sold out recently on the site.