2018 Sun Fu Heicha

A meh Fuzhuan tea. I got this tea from my w2t order, and it is just about mediocre, maybe slightly better than mediocre. Beautiful leaves with a good amount of golden flowers paired with an interesting juicy finish, strong and potent wet leaf aroma and a slight cha-qi. This tea lacks in the strength and complexity of flavour, character, texture and longevity. There wasn’t anything downright bad about this tea, but nothing much stands out either.

Gongfu!

Starting my Saturday with a heicha session! I think I prefer this one to the 2021 version, though hard to say without doing a side by side. I feel this is sweeter though; and while it has the gentle grassier and brown rice syrup notes I expected it also has a fruity top note sweetness that reminds me of Pink Lady apples. Just a little bit of acidic snap but mostly an almost effervescent bright sweetness! I’m especially getting that lovely apple flavour in the finish and gentle lingering aftertaste! Mmmm…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb2mZ4sOG3r/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wjY5cyywB8&ab_channel=RyanScott-Topic

This was in the November 2021 W2T tea club box. I’ve had a few heichas but I think this might be the first of this style I’ve tried. I’m not sure it’s for me. Maybe my brewing needs adjustment? It wasn’t gross but all I really got out of it was a kind of grassy flavor. Not not fresh young shoots of grass, more like old grass clippings. Slightly smoky smelling…just a little, not like an actual smoked tea. I did 3g in a 50ml porcelain gaiwan with just boiled water. Really short steeps at first because I wasn’t sure what to expect, then a little longer after tasting the tea. It seemed to last on and on without much change or fading of flavor (lost count of how many steeps I did before giving up), which would have been awesome if I’d been into the flavor. I only had 15g but there should be enough left to experiment with a few more tiny gaiwan sessions. Interesting to try and I’d be willing to taste other Fu brick teas if they’re included in club boxes or free samples are given with orders but, unless my experimenting produces a different taste, I don’t think it’s something I’d deliberately seek out.