My new favourite “Ye Sheng” tea! The dry leaves have an incredibly strong and complex aroma. It is a mix of medicinal, herbal and spicy – lies somewhere close to sage, eucalyptus or tea tree oil. Wet leaves’ smell is even more multilayered. I can smell some grass, roast lamb, sand, wood and honey among many other fleeting scents.
The taste is delicate, crisp and refreshing. It has the characteristic savoury and woody bitterness of the varietal. Other than that I noticed flavours reminiscent of fruits, dumplings, potatoes, flowers, spinach. In the protracted aftertaste, many more aspects come to the fore – thyme, cannabis, minerals, parsnip, plant roots, sourdough bread, black currant and others. There is a very noticeable huigan too.
Body is medium to full, with a thick velvety liquor that induces a slightly tingling sensation on the back of my tongue. For a white tea, the cha qi is significant too, quite caffeine like, but a bit more heady.
All in all, this is a tea that, along with the Feng Qing Hong Cha, suits the characteristics of this varietal the most I think. I definitely want to have a good amount of it in my cupboard.
Flavors: Bitter, Black Currant, Bread, Cannabis, Eucalyptus, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Herbs, Honey, Meat, Medicinal, Oak, Potato, Sage, Sand, Spicy, Spinach, Thick, Thyme, Umami
