I haven’t familiarized myself with Yiwu teas due to limited budget and the availability of good teas from less pricy regions. Nonetheless, with the price of most teas skyrocketing, it made sense to sample some reasonably priced Yiwu material from Scott’s pressings while I still can. I also have a strong bias for spring teas, but here I am again forced to sample autumn teas from expensive regions.
I had a mixed experiences with Scott’s 2013 line, but this was a very nice surprise. I will echo his description that the tea “is not autumn in character”. Indeed, it’s quite concentrated with a strong mouthfeel and heavy qi.
Typical Yiwu sweet hay and grain-like base. It coats the entire mouth cavity with its expansive and intense presence. It’s sweet, spicy, woody, and moderately bitter, with prominent notes of raw honey, nutmeg, dried apricots, and hay. It’s consistent through many steeps and lingers for a long time. Love the qi on this!
I am reminded of W2T’s 2009 Yiwu Gushu, only this one has smaller leaves. Another bonus is the very pleasant raw honey and floral fragrances coming off the empty cup!
