From the Sheng and Shou TTB.
Brewed gongfu-style in a ceramic gaiwan. Two 5-second rinses (because the first cup, 5 seconds, was too weak). Steeping times: 10, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120.
I carefully unwrapped the paper (it’s taped in my tea journal for keeps) as if it were a special present. This was the first time I had a sheng ball, so I had to admire it – the tightness in which the leaves were pressed, the summer plant-like colors of the leaves, the lightness, or weightlessness, of the ball – before placing it in the bowl. It didn’t take long to unfurl. After the two rinses and the first steep, the leaves were already free.
This was the sweetest smelling sheng whose aroma I’ve had the pleasure to savor. Apricot jam fills the gaiwan after each steep, stronger than the real thing. Given a few seconds, a midsumer meadow arises, then green peppers.
The liquor is golden yellow, thick, smooth and, at first, cloudy with leaf bits. It has a full-body yet is mild in flavor. The first infusion tastes of sweet hay. It’s also a little sour, but this disappears shortly. The second infusion is even sweeter, a kind of fruity sweetness, with a mineral note. I liked this cup the best. The rest of the infusions are tingly on the tongue. They consistently offer sweet hay, and the texture becomes a little thicker.
Silly me – I checked the website’s instructions after I began the session. Which is why the temperature reads 200 and not 185. Which is probably why the flavor weakens at the seventh infusion. I have a hard time making teas last more than ten infusions while being brewed in a gaiwan. This is one tea I would have liked to have more a longer relationship with. Take me back to that summer meadow!
