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“ORIGINAL (06/2021): On the website it says “experimental”, but to my beginner tastebuds feels actually very familiar and not so exciting. The way this tea is advertised gave me more...” Read full tasting note
The 2021 Diao Retro is an intense, experimental blend that pushes the envelope of disparate materials working together. The overall strength is apparent from the outset with softer characteristics flitting around the edges of the experience. Full of flavor, aroma and feeling. Not sure if it is harmony or chaos, time will tell.
Each cake is 200 grams.
Pressed in 2021. Each cake is 200g. The cakes are wrapped in bamboo leaf tongs, with five cakes per tong.
ORIGINAL (06/2021):
On the website it says “experimental”, but to my beginner tastebuds feels actually very familiar and not so exciting. The way this tea is advertised gave me more expectations.
Aroma is strong and fresh: fermented yellow fruits/steamed vegetables/flowers/forest floor followed by mushrooms. Very vegetal and slightly bitter Huigan that glues to the roof of the mouth.
The texture feels similar to melted ice. Maybe this will change with more resting.
Qi is medium strong and slows me down. Enjoyable.
It gets more cooling as the session goes on. Freshly cut grass. Honey and cooked apples towards the 8th steep.
Very sweet overall, with an easily controllable astringency and a slight bitterness on the tip of the tongue. Reminds me a bit of Bosch 2021, but less intense and dynamic.
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6 MONTHS LATER:
The tea changed quite a bit from June. I enjoyed it a lot more today.
Now more pungent, with nice contrast of toasted rice and yellow fruits.
Robust mouthfeel, huigan with pungency on the throat. Silky body, with slight bitter edge. Swallowing gives lots of feedback. Mouth coating, strong pleasant aftertaste.
Bit cloudy liquor.
Very sweet, the toasted note lingers for many steeps.
In later steeps it gets more like chicory/cacao bitter, with even stronger throat coating. Quite dynamic. Qi seems to be of medium intensity.
Later gets a weird combination of citrus and dark roasted herbal notes. Cool.
