2017 Little Ducks

Gong Fu Sipdown (607)!

I’ve tried to be a little strategic with tea I’m packing first – if it’s something I had in a large quantity or don’t drink often then it’s going into a box first, and if I think I can finish it off before I fly out to Montreal then it stays out. It doesn’t need to be packed if I drink it first, after all. So this one stayed out of the box because I knew it would be an easy sipdown.

I received this one as a freebie in an order earlier this year; it’s definitely not something that I would have ever purchased for myself though, what with my not being a big Sheng drinker. It’s taken me a while to work up to trying it because based on the reviews I’ve seen it doesn’t seem so much like my jam…

First infusions were really intense but ultimately pleasant; definitely a big punch of tangy fruit notes – the kind that find their way into every crevice in your mouth, which in turn only makes you salivate even more. A mix of red fruit notes and more of a tangy peach-y sort of thing? Also vegetal, but less so than the intense wave of fruit. I mean, it kind of felt like the tea version of this Fruit Gushers commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2GTVL5I5pY

However, after those first two infusions this got so, so much more intense and a lot more bitter and vegetal tasting. Still hints of a fruity sweetness, but definitely more of an umami/savory profile with lots of edamame/green bean/lima bean kind of notes. I think I did about four infusions with this as the general profile but it wasn’t up my alley and I wasn’t enjoying the strong, bitter body and finishing notes so I decided to just stop the session.

I mean, I don’t think this is a bad tea but it’s got a lot of intensity to it and just isn’t my preferred flavour profile.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbxAB7rTpDc&index=17&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&t=0s

Starts off quite delicate. Deeply kelp-like when pushed. Makes you wonder how this tea would perform as a substitute for green tea in ochazuke. I recommend w2t in general for the crash course it should be for 99% of people on the fine art of branding. I recommend this form factor from any brand for anyone who wants to be a little coddled, or needs convenient socially acceptable chunks that do not look suspiciously like a baggie of illegal drugs with which to get one’s fix on, say, a commercial flight. It gives me pause to think these are individually hand-wrapped and stickered by another human being, probably another East Asian female human being. In that sense they are kind of like handmade tea dumplings, except you can’t eat the wrapper. The fact that the same amount of manual wrapping energy is being put into the coins as into the full size cakes in some ways makes these coins feel the most ludicrously bourgeoisie. I’m also relatively “meh” on this tea, because I have already had some really great(and far more expensive) others this week. Finally, it doesn’t matter because this one looks sold out.

219/365

Went with another coin today, after yesterday’s success. This one is a sheng, and since they’re not usually my thing it’ll be interesting to see how I get along.

My first thought is that this is light, bright, and unobjectionable. It’s a friendly sort of sheng, and would likely make a good introduction; I certainly wish my introduction to sheng had been this approachable! The early steeps don’t offer a lot in the way of flavour, just a light sweetness that reminds me of icing sugar with a hint of underlying bite. I’m going to take that as an indication that I should keep my steep times very low, at least to begin with. A set of"greener", slightly more savoury flavours develop around the third steep, along with more of a floral undertone. I’m reminded just a little of chlorophyll. With a steep time of around 30 seconds, it’s possible to get some light stone fruit/apricot notes, although there’s a slight increase in astringency along with that. For the most part, I went with steeps of no more than 15 seconds (some a lot shorter), and stuck with the icing-sugar-verging-on-flower-nectar flavour I got at that point and liked best.

It surprises me to say it, but I really like this one. It’s sweet, but unassuming enough that it’s not a distraction from my daily routine. It could easily be a daily drinker for me, and I don’t think I’ve ever said that about a sheng before. I stuck with this one most of the day, so it’s excellent value for money, and the coin format is amazingly brilliant from a convenience perspective. Maybe I’ve finally found my sheng happy place!

This is a very light sheng full of floral, apricot and vanilla sweetness – when brewed short. It does not distract you from what you are doing and happily lives in a background – which is rare with puerhs. Longest steepings are less interesting with floral notes turning into a typical young puerh astringency

The taste is not complex and I personally not looking for light cheerful sweetness in puerhs – my go-to teas for that type of flavor/mood are greens- thus good-but-not-great score. This tea was by no means unpleasant but I will not be getting it again.

I like these coins for having decent material quality and they are so convenient for away from house brewing (which I do once or twice a week). This tea bites quite a bit if brewed strong. I like to be heavy on the leaf as always, so I keep brewing short, loads of 5~10 second infusions and around the 5th infusion I start increasing time to 30 and more. This way brings out some nice apricot sweetness and some spinach dry umami flavors which work well together. From the beginning to the very end this tea had a remarkable body, very thick and viscous, loved that about it. I wouldn’t buy a large cake of this tea, although it is well priced. But these small ones are a staple in my cupboard for away from home.

This is an interesting tea. This has a thick and velvety mouthfeel, almost like a broth. I think that contributes to the umami character I pick up with it. It isn’t salty, but it reminds me of drinking a warm, salty broth. There are general vegetal notes to it as well—nothing specific, but just a general vegetal flavor.

Overall, I enjoy it but am not overwhelmed by the flavor. It’s the type of tea that I would have to be in the mood for in order to have again, but I can see it being very appealing for those times when I am in the mood for its unique character.