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I have had this sample sitting around for quite some time. In my effort to keep clearing out samples, I gave it a try today. The leaf had a sweet, mushroomy aroma to it. I have had some teas which use “mushroom” as a flavor description that are just a bit nasty, so I was slightly dubious going in.

Thankfully, my concerns were unfounded! This tea starts off slightly vegetal for the first couple steeps before transitioning to a mushroomy sweetness which I found downright pleasant. Sometimes that flavor manifests itself with a sour timbre, which as a flavor really puts me off. This one was nice and sweet. I didn’t pick up on any mint as the description or other reviews have noted. Despite the main sweet note, this tea had a strong underlying bitterness for the first half of the session. For much of the session, that bitterness was accompanied by a bit of a fruity flavor. I would definitely not call it apricot – it wasn’t even sweet. An interesting and stimulating fruitiness – kind of like just the rind of some stonefruit maybe. Much like other teas made from high quality leaf, the session finished with around a half dozen or more steeps which were incredibly soft and sweet, free of any astringency or bitterness which characterized the earlier part of the session. These steeps not as interesting, but they are a great way to end a session.

Aside from a pleasant flavor, this tea was no slacker in the texture and qi departments. I found the texture pleasantly thick – more brothy than creamy or oily, though the aforementioned late steeps were slightly creamy in nature. I very much agree with the description on Yunnan Sourcing’s site which characterized the qi as “strong but not overwhelming.” This tea had a pretty intense mellowing effect on me, at least in the first half of the session. The first few steeps first made my mouth feel tingly, before it got slightly numb. I felt almost like I was at the dentist with my mouth all numbed up. It was an interesting sensation.

This tea was a really good random sample selection – good job, me of a few months ago! When/if the budget allows, this is a tea I would certainly consider picking up a cake of. At $60/400g, it is a sort of mid-level price. It’s not as easy to pick up as, say a $25 cake, but it’s a very good value. I really would say this one punches above its weight.

Flavors: Bitter, Broth, Fruity, Mushrooms, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
tanluwils

This one is nice. It’s not very complex but is quite different from Scott’s other Jinggu teas.

JC

Awesome! I told you that this had a different dimension to ‘mushroom’, I like this one a lot too, but this and Qing Mei Shan are two worlds apart even when they do have some notes that look similar on paper. :D

Matu

Ha! So you did :) Had to go look at that note to remember what you told me. Good call lol.

tanluwils

I’m surprised you didn’t pick up mint or menthol cooling, as I found that to be a defining trait. A very interesting tea to have on hand.

Matu

I did see those notes in YS’s flavor description, but didn’t really get much of any of it. I suppose we all have different tastebuds and water, and a million other different variables lol.

tanluwils

I’m always surprised how big of an impact water has on my tea drinking experience.

JC

Water can make or break a tea for sure. Also depends on what you expect from those mint notes, I get them most up front in the scent of the leaf and initial herbal note, then nothing until all the way to the end where you get that very rare camphor from young tea. I’m not sure how’s your water but if you think it is on the softer side you can try it by adding minerals to it.

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tanluwils

This one is nice. It’s not very complex but is quite different from Scott’s other Jinggu teas.

JC

Awesome! I told you that this had a different dimension to ‘mushroom’, I like this one a lot too, but this and Qing Mei Shan are two worlds apart even when they do have some notes that look similar on paper. :D

Matu

Ha! So you did :) Had to go look at that note to remember what you told me. Good call lol.

tanluwils

I’m surprised you didn’t pick up mint or menthol cooling, as I found that to be a defining trait. A very interesting tea to have on hand.

Matu

I did see those notes in YS’s flavor description, but didn’t really get much of any of it. I suppose we all have different tastebuds and water, and a million other different variables lol.

tanluwils

I’m always surprised how big of an impact water has on my tea drinking experience.

JC

Water can make or break a tea for sure. Also depends on what you expect from those mint notes, I get them most up front in the scent of the leaf and initial herbal note, then nothing until all the way to the end where you get that very rare camphor from young tea. I’m not sure how’s your water but if you think it is on the softer side you can try it by adding minerals to it.

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A bit about myself: 22 years old, college grad (Double major in Anthropology and History). I plan to make a career of archaeology and hopefully travel (much of) the world in my days.

I enjoy many things aside from tea, including gaming, mixing cocktails, reading, watching anime, and painting miniatures.

My favorite type of tea is sheng puerh. Particularly younger stuff, if only because I haven’t gotten the chance to taste much of anything aged. I also really like oolong (Taiwanese, Wuyi, Dancong, etc.) and Japanese Green Teas. I do also enjoy most other kinds of tea, but they aren’t what I normally buy. I’m not a huge fan of shou puerh, black tea, or flavored blends, with few exceptions.

I really like interacting with the tea community, so if you ever want to talk or swap teas or anything, feel free to shoot me a message or something. Follow me and I’ll follow you back. Probably ;)

You might also see me on reddit as /u/Matuhg

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Michigan

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