2006 Tu Su Mt. Banzhang Big Leaf Sheng

Sipdown, 124. Sheng day continues.

This sheng, too, is rather smooth, with a fairly creamy texture. It leaves a bit of tingly sensation in my mouth. This one is less leafy, although it’s hard for me to figure out exactly what the flavor is. Perhaps a bit asparagus-y. Bitter salad greens (some of the later steepings are getting a slightly sharp edge). At first I thought the idea that the aftertaste was “exactly like vanilla” was crazy, and that I’d never be able to taste it, but then, in the third steep, suddenly the whisper of vanilla was there, playing on my tongue. The power of suggestion, perhaps, but sometimes that’s what it takes to start tasting those things in teas. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll taste the fig, clove, raisin, and tangerine notes too. Haha, but not today.

I’m finally getting around to sampling this Sheng, from the September (Final) edition of the Reserve TOMC. I’ve been drinking this for a couple of hours. The leaf is beautiful, expertly separated off the cake to preserve each piece without breakage. The initial dry smell is a rich & creamy green aroma that I love. After a quick initial rinse, I steeped in rounds of 3, sipping from each cup separately.
The earliest cups were gentle & like freshly mown hay, sweet & green. The 2nd round was a little astringent.
In the third round a citrus taste came into play, but it was more in the after-taste than in the actual sip.
One thing I’ve learned about shengs is that it’s important not to write them of as ‘just another sheng’ at the beginning, because if I stick it out, the interesting flavors gradually rise to set one apart from another. With this one, it’s kind of a sweet-lime taste. My parents have a lime tree & they tend to leave limes on there for a long time. I mean, you can only use so much lime, right? So they pick one when they need it, & sometimes there is a new crop of limes & last year’s limes are also on the tree. They just keep getting a little juicier & sweeter, unless they are picked or fall off. So the flavor of this reminds me of those sweet limes, still waiting to be picked from months ago. The 4th & 5th rounds have a creamy texture, a lovely sweet taste, a nice tongue & brain tingle, & even a slight salty sprinkle in the after-the-after taste (4th round), as if teeny tiny geysers of sea water sprayed up out of my taste buds in celebration. Admittedly, I have a tea buzz, & this last cup of tea is like drinking ‘clarity’ itself.

thank you for sending this one my way dinosara it was ages ago but i’m finally sorting through my smaller puerh samples, trying to clean up my cupboard AND take the time to focus on what i’m drinking at least once a week. I’ve been drinking this one all morning – though i suppose it’s now afternoon.

What i’ve started to figure out is that i get a smoke like taste often when i drink sheng…it’s not like lapsang smoke…but it comes through as “smoke” to my taste buds. This particular tea was earthy and vegetal like asparagus and then turned creamy. Overall a nice relaxing time today while cleaning up around the house.