Hate to say it but so far sheng has been something I drank and didn’t enjoy but kept at it because older, wiser people seem to enjoy it. A parallel of unpalatable alcohols like Jaegermeister or jamo come to mind, at first you drink them and because its almost a question of your masculinity but after repeated forced consumption you actually start to like and in some cases (jamo) start to prefer it. This has been the case with sheng for me it has been sour, bitter, dehydrating, petrol like and in worst cases draining to the point of me catching a cold, but I have forced myself to drink a new sample every sunday because worst case scenario I do not have much to do anyway.
-Review
This was the most pleasant sheng I have tasted so far, it was even better than yi wu’s that I have tried taste wise. ZERO smokiness ZERO bitterness ZERO sourness, literally the first sheng I haven’t forced myself to drink.
Dry leaf
Smelled similar to the 006 I tasted last sunday a grapey, slightly sour almost robotussin like scent(bare with me).
Liqueur
DEEP orange like I have seen in pu erh blogs but first time I have seen it(still not sure if it translates anything to taste, chemical components, age, leaf composition, etc). The tea tasted slightly milky/vanilla/creamy, not to the degree of a jin xuan (milk oolong) but just a texture/sweetness combination. Later infusions brought a sweet fruitiness and by the 10th steeping it got to be “leafy” in taste where I could tell it was starting to fade but continued to go for another few infusions. The last infusion I left for probably a good 20-30 mins (forgot about it) and drank it cool expecting a sour, astringent, insipid cup but to my surprise it was actually the best cup of the session, it was creamy/fruity but like the first few steepings.
Qi
Was not the strongest energy wise a steady, calm, contemplative state but I am starting to realize just like other green teas if they posses stimulating alkaloids and you throw boiling water on them they probably will not taste the greatest. Then again it was hydrating instead of drying like other shengs I have tasted.
Long story short this will be my first cake purchase as a result of tasting a sample. (added bonus it is in stock at yunnan sourcing U.S. site so only $2 shipping and wont have to wait a month)
Flavors: Honeydew, Lemon Zest, Vanilla
just went to go purchase a cake and its sold out …….
Oh, I hate when things are sold out :(