This is a very nice straightforward tea – clean, creamy and sweet. Moderate compression; very attractive dry leaves which offer light floral notes to please the nose. The tea soup is a lovely clear copper color (dark copper). This is a smooth tea with very little if any bitterness found underneath the dominant theme of sweetness. Little complexity, just an enjoyable sip with pleasant mouthfeel and aftertaste. For me the tea’s effect was quite calming and relaxing, in fact, it made me feel rather tired. Puerh from Jingmai has a reputation for being softer and lighter than Puerh from other tea growing regions and this tea lives up to that reputation.
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I like a nice sweet raw. It is so weird how some seem to perk me up and others mellow me out. I guess it is the caffeine/theanine ratio? shrug
I think of chaqi as the energy or feeling you get from drinking the tea so that’s the way I look at this and other teas. Don’t know how many others feel this way but I think “sweetness” is sometimes confusing as we describe tea. For me, saying that a flavored tea is sweet is different from describing puerh as sweet. When I describe a puerh as sweet, it means that it is smooth, mellow, easy to drink; does not make me salivate the way something bitter or sour does. Sometimes I wonder if I might mislead others who are unfamiliar with puerh. Interesting to wonder about what puerh sweetness might mean to different palettes.
I definitely think of some straight teas as naturally “sweet” tasting. I like a sheng with a nice balance of sweetness to bitterness :)
But you’re right that it is very different than a flavored tea or a sugar sweetened tea of any kind!
Nice notes! I have yet to try this one, I’m waiting to receive my order from W2T, but I’m looking forward to it. I agree that ‘sweet’ in Puerh and non-flavored tea in general can be confusing to newcomers, but people get the handle of the description once they’ve been exposed to enough times to Puerh. One of my favorite ‘sweet’ Puerh are Spring Xi Kong :)
JC – I was sampling the W2T Jingmai in an effort to make a purchase decision. Haven’t decided yet so I’ll be curious to hear what you think of it. I agree on the XiKong teas. You refer to which Spring Xi Kong? TU, YS or another?
I like a nice sweet raw. It is so weird how some seem to perk me up and others mellow me out. I guess it is the caffeine/theanine ratio? shrug
I think of chaqi as the energy or feeling you get from drinking the tea so that’s the way I look at this and other teas. Don’t know how many others feel this way but I think “sweetness” is sometimes confusing as we describe tea. For me, saying that a flavored tea is sweet is different from describing puerh as sweet. When I describe a puerh as sweet, it means that it is smooth, mellow, easy to drink; does not make me salivate the way something bitter or sour does. Sometimes I wonder if I might mislead others who are unfamiliar with puerh. Interesting to wonder about what puerh sweetness might mean to different palettes.
I definitely think of some straight teas as naturally “sweet” tasting. I like a sheng with a nice balance of sweetness to bitterness :)
But you’re right that it is very different than a flavored tea or a sugar sweetened tea of any kind!
Nice notes! I have yet to try this one, I’m waiting to receive my order from W2T, but I’m looking forward to it. I agree that ‘sweet’ in Puerh and non-flavored tea in general can be confusing to newcomers, but people get the handle of the description once they’ve been exposed to enough times to Puerh. One of my favorite ‘sweet’ Puerh are Spring Xi Kong :)
JC – I was sampling the W2T Jingmai in an effort to make a purchase decision. Haven’t decided yet so I’ll be curious to hear what you think of it. I agree on the XiKong teas. You refer to which Spring Xi Kong? TU, YS or another?