2006 BZ Ancient Tree

Now THIS is a sheng! Another sample from PJ and loving it! Very similar to his 2009 Forever Zen, but better flavor.

Wonderful mouthfeel from square one. Very heavy like you have to suck the tea out of the pinming. Then the tea presses on the sides of your tongue and sits like my under-hit putts sit feet from the hole (lol). No bitterness and medium-low astringency. 12+ infusions easily. Aftertaste is sweet. Can even use boiling temps with this one, although it (as expected) increases the astringency a bit. Perhaps try a bit more leaf next time?

There are some fascinating, distinct aromas to the dry and wet leaf that I still can’t place. The wet leaf aroma is unique as far as teas go and not particularly reminiscent of anything. The dry leaf aroma has a component similar to vanilla, but it’s more than that.

This one is another from the Banzhang Zhengshan TF, but PJ doesn’t provide us with any more info on this tea than that. I haven’t gotten the hype about gushu/ancient trees from the few samples I’ve tried, but this tea gives me new hope for this sought-after category of tea. Unfortunately, this tea isn’t listed for sale separate from the sampler on his website, but fingers crossed it becomes available :). I can’t find it via Google search elsewhere.