[Spring 2019 harvest]
I am not a big fan of Yancha, but I made an order of some decent grade ones from Wuyi Origin some time ago. One reason was to see whether I just don’t like “cheap rock oolongs” and also to understand the category better.
This particular tea didn’t wow me overall, but I have to say it has pretty spectacular aromatics, especially now that the roast has calmed down. Many of the aromas were muddled when I drank it last year. Specifically, dry leaves smell of cherries, rose flowers and sweet wood at first, with some additional notes of ripe bananas, tropical rainforest and limestone in a preheated gaiwan. The wet leaf aroma has a lot of depth and pungency with notes such as hibiscus, peat and chard.
Some of these are quite present in the liquor itself too, notably the flowery and woody ones. Its texture is buttery and metallic, while the taste is bitter and fruity with hints of cranberry, red wine and oak, among others. I found the cha qi to be nice and mellow with a focusing quality to it.
Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h7jfUUSj3M
Flavors: Bitter, Cherry, Cherry Wood, Cranberry, Flowers, Fruity, Hibiscus, Metallic, Oak, Peat, Rainforest, Red Wine, Rose, Sweet, Wood
Found Psychic on vinyl several years ago. It’s a treasure.
oh wow, that’s cool! There is a new album coming this year it seems!
Thanks for the info. I am awaiting its arrival!