2016 ‘Han Gu Di’ Old Arbor [YS via greenteaguru]
For some reason I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some of this stuff. Brewed up 5g of the great looking leaves in one of my favorite high-fired 80ml zhu ni pots. The session starts out pretty mellow with quite a bit of sweetness, the main theme are florals and honey, leaving a complex honey-ish aroma in the empty cup after the first few steeps; the outside of the pot smells of my ex’s skin :lol: . The tip of my tongue and my gums slightly tingle through the entire session, my empty stomach feels OK, steep by steep there’s more bitterness coming through, but the florals and honey are remarkably steadfast and turn into a long, intense aftertaste – pretty impressive. I got more than 10 interesting steeps out of those 5g and could easily smell the aroma of the 12th steep from 2ft away – not too bad.
This tea reminds me a lot of Honza’s 2015 Old Tree Mengsong but I’d prefer this one over the more affordable, slightly sweeter (candy) and thicker but less durable and complex chawangpu.
If I miss anything here it’d be dynamics, there are just no twists and turns to talk about but I guess I’ll get a cake anyway.
I got one aging away…
This one has good depth from the start. I think you made a good choice.