I got a sample in the form of dragon balls. They have the right amount of compression and open up easily after about 10-15 sec rinse.
The tea has a strong Lincang character (crisp, high florals, citrus notes) but also some faint Jinggu-like grainy notes. It’s definitely a more wild and forest-like tasting tea than your average tea from the well-kept gardens of Mengku. The liquor is medium bodied, but it has a lovely mouth-watering and very soft texture.
Dry leaves smell of dried mushrooms, after the rinse I find the aromas similar to those of Yunnanese green teas. They are vegetal, grassy and citrusy and overall quite beautiful.
With dragon balls, the rinse is rarely great, but here I like its crisp and sweet vegetal character with notes of bok choy and pollen. First proper infusion is floral and tart with a touch of bitterness. There are flavours of hot hay, barley, and lemon zest.
Subsequent steeps bring out more of quinine-like bitterness that I really enjoy. Other notes include those of red apple, courgette, and mushrooms. The aftertaste is surprisingly astringent at times and displays a lot of floral sweetness.
Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNfLqCZkFWc
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Bok Choy, Citrusy, Floral, Grain, Hot Hay, Lemon Zest, Mushrooms, Sweet, Tart, Vegetal, Zucchini
