Dry the leaf has a very sweet floral aroma, but as soon as you warm it up you know you’re smelling a relative of Manzhuan. That rich vanilla depth. But here it is paired with some subtle floral notes and something akin to nectarine or apricot skin that becomes more pronounced as the infusions go on. A stellar tea if you are a fan of Tea Urchins 2014 Manzhuan or W2T’s 2015 Poundcake. This is their more complex sister.
I’ve only brewed this one up once (and only have enough for one or two more sessions) but to me this seemed a little less tricky to get right than those two. I only had to minorly adjust my default brewing method on the second steep to bring out the complexity of this pot. I’d say this is something someone new to puerh could enjoy as well as people who are more seasoned. It’s not mind blowingly complex, but it is complex enough to make you take notice. It’s comforting but challenges you to taste a little more closely. It’s fresh but familiar all at once. Over all this is a good tea that I think could be enjoyed by many. It’s a blunter version of GFZ but I think could be loved by someone who wants GFZ but doesn’t want to pay more than twice as much for the cake.
I don’t know if this screams special occasion… but it definitely screams I am wearing my fancy PJ pants and want to treat myself to something extraordinary. It’s something you could serve to guests who love green or white teas… and you want to bring them to the puerh dark side.
Another high quality tea from Belle and Eugene.
Sorry for the utility tasting notes. I don’t think one tasting is enough to truly describe this tea, but I’m hoping that this is enough to guide people who will enjoy this tea to sample it and improve upon my tasting note.
In short: yumm this is all peaches and vanilla and green tea!
Flavors: Apricot, Orchid, Vanilla
Comments
I think so… but they are still posting their cakes I think. Every few days I see new ones when I look. I ordered some samples from them because I had an oolong need… and there is no one who can touch their value for the quality on some of their lower and mid grade oolongs! (I can’t afford their expensive ones so I wouldn’t know). So I sampled 2/3 of their 2015 cakes that were posted by then. I have a review of the Dark Forest 2015 incoming this week as soon as I can young sheng some more.
First person to review their 2015 harvest I think!
I think so… but they are still posting their cakes I think. Every few days I see new ones when I look. I ordered some samples from them because I had an oolong need… and there is no one who can touch their value for the quality on some of their lower and mid grade oolongs! (I can’t afford their expensive ones so I wouldn’t know). So I sampled 2/3 of their 2015 cakes that were posted by then. I have a review of the Dark Forest 2015 incoming this week as soon as I can young sheng some more.
Looking forward to the Dark Forest review. I should have a sample of that incoming soon as well!