Eastern Leaves

I really like this Yancha, it has a lovely dry leaf aroma of coffee and sweet florals, that turns into a mix of fish, cranberry, and lavender after the rinse.

The first infusion is savoury with hints of spices, a bit of nectar sweetness, and a woody finish. Middle part of the session gives a more refreshing vibe and cherry flavour, while later steeps are more woody.

The aftertaste is floral and very long-lasting. It has a good mix of sweet and sour flavours. Last, but not least, I enjoyed the mouthfeel a great deal. The tea is both thick and light at once, it is very smooth and also a bit numbing.

This tea has a nectar-like, sticky mouthfeel with lots of astringency and a cooling finish. The taste is full and woody, slightly sour, and quite juicy and refreshing for a hei cha. There are flavours of stonefruit pits and muscovado sugar. The aftertaste then carries a strong pine presence, particularly reminiscent of pine cones.

[Spring 2020/21 harvest]

The last ingredient among the three teas that make up the blend comes from the Zhenkang area in Lincang. Its sweetness reminds me of Yi Wu sheng (Man Zhuan perhaps), while the grain-like nature is a bit like some Jinggu teas such as the Jiu Tai Po one from YS. In the end, I like it the most out of the three in the blend.

In particular, it has a very pleasent thick and creamy texture. I also like its strong taste that is close to wheat beer – sweet and bitter with grainy flavours and a sour undertone. Otherwise, I found aromas of forest and compost, as well as flavours of buckwheat and grass.

[Spring 2020/21 harvest]

Today I tried another part of this three-way blend, the Mangfei. It’s a very different tea. Even when brewed strong, it remains pretty smooth. There is a lot of sweetness as well as floral and vanilla notes. It has a beautiful aroma, but lighter body.

[Spring 2020/21 harvest]

This is a note for one of three teas that make up this blend (even though from different batches). Namely, I drank the Mannuo today. Interestingly, it has been kept in an enclosed package ever since I got it a year ago, unlike most of my other teas.

As I open the package, I get quite a fruity and perfumy vibe. This is reflected also in the aftertaste later. Otherwise the wet leaves don’t have a particularly strong aroma.

The taste is nutty at first. Soon it turns fruity, but not really sweet. The liquor has a medium to thick texture and is somewhat fluid if that makes sense. I mean, it doesn’t bubble up much at all. There is a good amount of bitterness, but too much astringency, which makes it a tea that’s not so easy to enjoy casually in its current state. The finish is particularly tannic and mouth-puckering. The aftertaste is a little sweet and has hints of tobacco.

[Autumn 2020 harvest]

The aroma is grainy and the taste quite bitter here. The tea has a character that is floral, vegetal and mineral at once, with flavours of dry wood, butter, and cape gooseberry. Its texture is bubbly, but also very astringent. The aftertaste is a bit sweeter with a distinct honey note.

I didn’t get so much out of this tea, but maybe later I will be in a better position to connect with it.

A nutty floral aroma with an inviting sweet, almost nectar like, touch greets the experience. Putting the leaves in a warm gaiwan leads to further aromatic explosion that transports me to a wooden house with brioche bread in the oven. During the session, there’s an additional scent of green olives and broccoli. It is almost sheng-like at this poing in its farm-like quality.

The tea is really refreshing with its mix of flowery, bitter, green and sour notes. It has a super soft texture, but a strong presence in the mouth, including a drying sensation without astringency. It has a lot of the qualities of a great green tea, but it is much more warming. I get reminded of some of the high mountain Yunnan green teas due to the bitterness and similarity with sheng. However, this Huang Xiao Cha is much more elegant than those tend to be.

All in all, this is easily the best yellow tea I’ve ever tried!

[Spring 2021 harvest]

I am not a big fan of Bai Ji Guan, but I find this one to be very enjoyable! It has a complex bright floral profile and a very protracted and pleasant aftertaste.

Dry leaves are quite aromatic with notes of zucchini flowers, egg shells, and apricot pits, all of which remain present throughout the session in the taste as well. Wet leaves then smell more like honey and lemon skin, once again both are prominent features of the whole experience. There is also a funny association to cappuccino, I don’t know where that comes from :D

Besides all the bright florals, first steep also tastes like egg yolk, lemon, and honey. An acidic bitterness that reminds me of dark chocolate develops at the back of the mouth. Following infusions are even more bitter and complex, with a bunch of mineral notes and several hints of stonefruits. Later, the tea becomes more nutty and creamy, but the aftertaste remains pungent, biting and cooling with a dominant sweet flavour.

A nice enough sheng that’s doesn’t stand out so much. It is quite powerful in its bitter taste and lasting juicy aftertaste.

The dry leaf aroma is sweet and floral, but also nutty. After the rinse, there are notes of fish food, apricots, and compost.

The taste reminds me of bitter melons, pineapple, phyllo pastry, hops, green beans, grains and pumpkin seeds. In contrast to the pungent profile, the liquor has quite a light and soft texture, and it turns the mouth quite slick.

As one could expect, this is a black tea that may appeal to pu-erh drinkers. It has a smooth, oily mouthfeel; bittersweet and expansive taste of forest and dried fruits; as well as an enveloping, clarifying energy. I also detected notes of strawberries, cocoa and walnuts.

Awesome medium bodied green tea in a way that’s a bit hard to describe. Already when opening the package, the pungent and complex aroma suggests it would be a good one – it is meaty, grassy and nutty at once.

The tea tastes very fresh and savoury with a lot of bitterness and a nutty finish. There is a decent astringency early on, but the liquor texture is also very smooth – somewhat confusing for the mouth. The taste does get more sweet and vegetal around steep 3 and also a bit brothy and floral towards the end. Specific flavours I noticed are those of green beans, lime, green pepper, orchid, and chicken broth. The aftertaste is sweet with a hint of mussels and the cha qi mostly warming in the core.

As all Anji Bai Cha I have tried, this one is also quite subtle. Additionally, it is more milky and less grassy though.

At first there are floral and nutty scents complemented by an apple pie note. The wet leaf aroma is more grassy with a persistent apple note and a touch of vanilla ice cream.

The liquor has a texture that’s both thick and light and it has a mildly numbing mouthfeel. The taste is mild, sweet and bright. It has mineral bitterness, milky sweetness and a hint of butter. The aftertaste is warming, very sweet, herbaceous and milky.

I am not a big fan of Long Jing, but if they were all as exciting as this one, I would certainly change my mind. I particularly like its tingling, warming and sandpaper-like moutfeel as well as the unique bitterness present, which is stronger than in many shengs produced these days.

The dry leaf aroma has hints of sponge cake and instant cocoa, while wet leaves smell of thistles, seaweed, snowdrop flowers, and cabbage.

The taste is mineral and peppery. There is almost no astringency and flavours include a quite well-defined sake bitterness, almond skins, morel mushrooms, seaweed, and sunflower oil. The aftertaste is crisp with an additional green pepper note to it.

I got some fresh green teas recently and organized an outdoor tea tasting last weekend to try them out. Personally, I like this one the most among them. It has a pungent and well balanced taste with a great presence in the mouth and a also a lasting aftertaste.

The dry leaf aroma reminds me of meadows, moss and fried green vegetables. During the session, the smell is more butter-like and very green with a mild nutty undertones and hints of fern and green beans.

The taste is sweet and savoury with a nice bitterness and also some sour notes. It is remarkably mineral for a green tea, particularly reminiscent of limestone and shellfish. There are also some fleeting flavours of edamame, lavender and mint.