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Having tried many YS pu-erh productions from about 2017 onwards, I was also curious about some of their earlier teas that are still in stock. Many seem quite expensive. This one feels almost too cheap, but I am not sure what is the sourced material here.

In any case, I found the tea to be quite nice, but I would barely call it semi-aged in its current state 12 years after production. It has a lot of sweetness and a floral character. There is nevertheless good bitterness and pungency, and a super smooth mouthfeel. The cha qi seemed somewhat caffeine heavy for my liking.

Dry leaf aroma is nutty and it reminds me of honey and orange blossoms. After the rinse, the smell is mineral and very elegant in a sense, with hints of cognac, lemongrass, and sage.

The first steep starts mild, mineral and grassy with a honey flavour. Second is more bitter, herbaceous and sweet overall. The aftertaste is floral and yeasty, but there is also a nutty almond flavour.

Here’s a complex Dan Cong with a superb cha qi, it is heady and quite meditative. Apart from that, I also love its bitterness leyers and the funky mouthfeel.

At first, it smells of baked fruit, but after the rinse I find many other notes. It is a sweet, spicy aroma with hints of flowers, mochi, brick houses, incense and kohlrabi.

The first infusion is somewhat simple and particularly comforting. It has a strong mineral presence, a soft mouthfeel and an ever-changing aftertaste. Second steep further underscores the mineral and comforting character. It is more sweet and sour, with notes of rosemary, caramel, and rose water. The aftertaste is very cooling and floral with a hint of licorice.

Third steep is more pungent. It brings a numbing spicy mouthfeel reminiscent of sichuan pepper, as well as flavours of fish broth and tree bark. Next I find also an earthiness and especially bitterness of beetroots, but also sweeter notes of persimmon and sugar beet.

Towards the end of the session, the bitter-sweet character becomes more dominant. There are notes of baked apples, oats, and lilac among many others.

I really like this Yancha, it has a lovely dry leaf aroma of coffee and sweet florals, that turns into a mix of fish, cranberry, and lavender after the rinse.

The first infusion is savoury with hints of spices, a bit of nectar sweetness, and a woody finish. Middle part of the session gives a more refreshing vibe and cherry flavour, while later steeps are more woody.

The aftertaste is floral and very long-lasting. It has a good mix of sweet and sour flavours. Last, but not least, I enjoyed the mouthfeel a great deal. The tea is both thick and light at once, it is very smooth and also a bit numbing.

Nice mixture of bitter and flowery flavours in this one, which I like a lot. The aromas are more nutty with notes of cacao and nectar when dry as well as cognac and forest when wet.

Here we have a refreshing and biting green tea whose character doesn’t betray the Sichuan origin. There is, indeed, a notable cabbage aroma that complements the more universal scent of spinach and green peas. The taste is grassy and carries a nice sourness of citrus and pine.

I got this black tea for more casual drinking and kombucha, and it fulfils such purpose very well. The smell is fruity and malty with lots of sweet notes like caramel. Wet leaf aroma is then more forest-like.

The taste is robust but not agressive. There is a very nice bread crust and cacao bitterness, as well as mild malty sweetness. After drinking, a pleasant, almost floral fragrance persists for quite a while. Overall, I like the tea a lot.

The last japanese tea from 2022 for me is also the only Gyokuro I had this year. It is not as intensely savoury and thick as traditional gyokuro tends to be. Rather, I find it to have a relatively cooling, forest-like and herbaceous vibe.

The aroma is toasty with sweet florals and a hint of cacao. Liquor has a medium body and a smooth, very well-balanced taste – sweet, mineral, nutty, umami all come together pretty well here. There are flavours of broth, lime, and pine, as well as sugarcane particularly in the aftertaste.

This is a really nice tea, although not very complex. The aroma is sweet and floral with notes of custard, honeysuckle, and, above all, fern and fiddleheads.

The taste is crisp and green, but at the same time sweet and warming, which is not the most common combination. It is a touch grassy, but not too much.

These needles are some of the most beautiful tea leaves. They smell buttery and a tiny bit toasty.

First thing to notice about the brew is its vibrant colour and virtually no cloudiness. As soon as I drink it, the full bodied liquor covers my mouth with a creamy mouthfeel and a strong but smooth taste. It is bitter, vegetal, and very crisp. The flavours are really quite amazing. There is a decent umami and sweetness as well as notes of rocket, butter, pine, and vegetable broth.

It has been some time since I had such a positive experience with sencha and I will look for the 2023 harvest in the spring.