I am still new to tea tasting; that’s my disclaimer for the following. I was really looking forward to this tea due to the Verdant description of “pound cake” and “whipped cream” as main flavors. But what I tasted was hands down medicinal. Something in this tastes how an acupuncturist treatment room smells. A kind of acrid and bitter underside to the tea, is it like moxa? Is that camphor? Menthol or wintergreen? It has a coolness about it and engages the nose a lot, as if there were volatiles being released. Chinese medicinal roots. Like chewing on a licorice root. This stood out in the aroma of the steeped leaves as well. Maybe, maybe in steep I tasted some whipped cream, but I also was wanting to taste that from the start, so maybe I was imagining. The texture is smooth and rich with some creaminess.
I have tasted less than 10 shu pu’er so far, and this one was different from all the others, so it was a good experience in showing me new possibilities. However, the upfront medicinal taste (and aftertaste) disqualifies this tea for me in terms of daily drinking. This is a tea I would recommend to taste with friends for a session comparing and contrasting different shu pu’er.
I will be curious to see what other reviews say.
Flavors: Herbs, Medicinal
