This is my one hundredth tasting note on Steepster! To celebrate, I’m reviewing a tea that I bought in 2016, but that I only opened a few weeks ago. It was ridiculously inexpensive for a Da Yu Ling, and I’m sad that the business appears to be closed. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.
This tea is very sweet for a Da Yu Ling, and has notes of cream, honey, florals, spinach, vanilla, cucumber, and Granny Smith apple in the first steep. It also has a heavy, viscous body and no astringency. Some citrus and slightly herbaceous notes appear in the second steep. A previous reviewer noted that the sweetness is like agave, and this is an apt description; I’d swear there was some form of sugar in this.
The florals all but disappear by the fifth steep, leaving a combination of sweet, vegetal, and creamy. Though the vegetal notes increase in subsequent rounds, with lettuce and spinach predominating, it still retains its sweetness until the end of the session.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable tea, though its sweetness reminds me more of a green Dong Ding than of other Da Yu Lings I’ve had. I enjoyed my sample of IdesTea’s Li Shan a bit more, but this bag will be easy to finish.
Flavors: Citrus, Cream, Cucumber, Floral, Green Apple, Herbaceous, Honey, Lettuce, Spinach, Sweet, Vanilla, Vegetal
