2015 Yunnan Sourcing "Huang Shan Gu Shu" Old Arbor Raw

This is another cake I bought from boychik. At first impression (after first few infusions), it appeared to me to be quite muted in its complexity. I thought I will probably not be drinking too much of it in the near future. However, the leaves went steeping on and on for a long time and by the end of the session, the tea presented its multi-faceted nature that wasn’t obvious at first. I ended up really enjoying especially the aftertaste and the qi. 

I totally agree with Scott’s description of the tea having layered bitterness and sweetness. There are several different kinds of bitterness cropping up at various stages of the session, none of which is overpowering. Early on, the bitterness is short while later it takes over the finish and at the very last steeps I can detect some further bitter notes in the aftertaste as well. The sweetness is very strong, especially in the aftertaste, which lasts for a long time. I also agree that the tea has a sort of pure/clean character. Astringency is present throughout, but never gets too strong. The body is full and the mouthfeel very thick and smooth. In the middle of the session it gets somewhat numbing too. Interestingly, the mouthfeel stays nice until the end of what ended up being a long session, which is definitely not the standard.

At this stage of the development of this tea, the aroma seems light and ill defined with fleeting notes of marsh and decaying grass. Taste of the tea starts off mineral, spicy and nutty, fairly muted overall as I mentioned already. It is fairly sweet, one flavour that particularly stood out to me as interesting was that of rice paper. Aftertaste is floral and very sweet, late in the session gets spicy and buttery as well. 

After the end of the session, I was left with an enormous evolving aftertaste with a very unusual character especially with its returning mineral and sour notes in the mouth. There is much more to it though, and rather than trying to discern all its nuances, I let myself be absorbed by it. To say that the tea ends on a high note would be an understatement, especially when paired with the strong and relaxing cha qi. I am glad I have a cake of this intriguing tea, as it’s quite different from my other teas and I look forward to getting to know it better in the future.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8b4-6E8zjA

As others have noted, this is a nice counter point to YS’s lovely Da Qing Gu Shu. Beautiful leaf that smells nice but not as amazing and floral as the Da Qing. Wet leaf is really vegetal/skunky smelling (nobody else uses this word…perhaps tobacco is a better term)

Taste – This ones notes are more vegetal (brussel sprouts) although it is mostly noticeable in the first few steeps. It quickly shifts to the jasmine flowers followed by stone fruit aftertaste. The taste gets going super fast with 10-15 sec steeps. Astringency and bitterness are there but just the perfect amount.

Qi – Puts me in a great mood, good energy and relaxation. Just a good all rounder although nothing sticks out particularly and it’s not super strong Qi

I can see why some people rave about this tea. I think “pure” is an excellent descriptor. Personally i’d rather have the sweetness of the YS 2015 Wu Liang or the oiliness and fruit flavours of 2014 Gua Feng Zhai for the price, but it’s still excellent.
Initially it starts quite light, with mild sweetness and astringency in nice balance. A honeyed floral sweetness is noticeable by steep 3, and also the astringency builds without being overpowering. It is both VERY refreshing, but also with a thick mouthfeel and long, sappy aftertaste, with some umami. The parallel lines of sweetness and astringency continue towards the 8th steep, with some vegetal notes too. I felt it needed big brews after than to keep the flavour profile going, but it did.
8g 2 rinses 10min rest, steeps 10 , 10, 15, 10, 15, 20, 25, 40, 60, 180

Others have described the taste in precise detail – I just want to add one thing:
I feel VERY good after drinking this tea.

Fantastic tea! This one makes me run back to the gaiwan. Energy overflows out of every cup. My heart is pounding and I am starting to sweat after just 3 steeps, now that’s power.
It tastes of green hay accompanied by mild bitterness. The mouthfeel after each cup is a testament to the power of this tea, as it remains for several minutes.
Each brew gets sweeter and sweeter. The wet leaves have a slight musty scent to them.

Lovely tea! Dried leaf: intact, attractive shapes, and are easily pried off the cake with a lovely floral fragrance. Wet leaves have a delicate wild flower aroma and are of a respectable olive green, nice and veiny. I normally taste the wash of teas I’ve been anticipating to try out.

The initial steeps have an upfront floral sweetness, cooling, tingly sensations, and almost spicy/nutty notes of raw/roasted brussel sprouts. Honestly, if there was a liquified form of honeysuckle it would taste like this. That kind of delicate but prominent floral note comes more to the fore as the tea soup thickens. The body on this is just wonderful and consistent through later steeps. It has a very pleasurable mouthfeel. There is strong cha qi that spreads to my core rather than to my head. Tea buzz sneaks in on the 3rd or so steep. Mid to later steeps are consistently honeysuckle-floral, wild flower honey, thick/velvety, and tingly/cooling, with that good kind of bitterness I look for in pu’er.

I’ve tried this with my gaiwan and yixing. The sweetness seems to be somewhat enhanced with the yixing, but not by much. The honeysuckle and vegetal notes are more obvious when using the gaiwan. The tea remains active in the mouth for a while after drinking. I can’t get enough of that mouthfeel and tingly sensation! I ended up purchasing two cakes.

I really enjoyed this one, it is among the best shengs I’ve tried from YS. I think it is almost like Lao ManE light. It has a classic flavor, and an underlying bitterness that is very apparent, but not too strong. Thick, strong flavored, and big cha qi. It is clearly a young one, very acidic and none too easy on the stomach. I consider it very well priced at $77 currently for a 400g cake. It crosses the threshold of a 90 score in my book, which I do not dole out readily. I hope it ages well, as I’m in for a cake on my next order!

This tea started out with a bit of creamy feel to it and the remaining steeps it was less. This had a sweet honeysuckle taste to it along with an underlying bitterness. The bitterness wasn’t too strong and it still make an enjoyable cup.

hooho boy this is crazy good. All Scott’s Jingu-area teas I’ve tried this year are really pretty dynamic and different, going again to show us how much variety there can be in a relatively small area. This one reminds me a lot of a Mengku/Bingdao area profile. That is, it is very pure, sweet and thick, with an icy-cool bite. It is also extremely subtle, but I’d say there are notes of musky wildflowers and honeysuckles, with a vegetal sweetness that seems closest to sweet bell-peppers. The bitterness is solid and gives it this tea a good structure while not being overpowering, and it brews very even across many infusions. I’d almost say this tea seems underpriced…

First note for this tea!

Ubacat sent me some of this. I used about 5g in my brand new celadon gaiwan from Yunnan Sourcing (more on this below).

I did about a half dozen steeps and the tea was mild, but somewhat juicy and bitter. Notes of grass and apricots. However, during my final steep, I dropped the lid of the teapot I was using to pour the water into the gaiwan, and the gaiwan got chipped on the edge.

This is only the second time I’ve used the gaiwan! I’m sad. It was pretty. Will it still work, or will the chipped edge make the whole thing fragile?