It is really amazing how different can this yunnan be between when bitterness kicks in and before it. Its almost like 20 more seconds of steeping change the tea to a different variety. Cant say I don’t like it when steeped for a longer time, but short steepings is where this one truly shines. Definitely not the one for western brewing.
After trying Laoshan Northern Black(Verdant), Yunnan Golden Buds(Verdant) and Bailin Gongfu(Teavivre) I can safely say that this tea is THE best yunnan black for me :) I didn’t really find Bailin that special, Yunnan Golden Buds were OK, but their most interesting note is emphasized hundredfold in Imperial Breakfast(Verdant) which is is waaaaay better that pure Golden Buds and while I enjoyed the background of Northern Black immensely it’s an occasional tea, while Fenqing 58’s sweet notes and general profile make it a perfect everyday tea.
This has been a very nice year (having discovered steepster/verdant) so, surprisingly enough I still have some of this tea. It’s been more than a year after it’s been picked by now but, interestingly, I cannot really say that it got stale. If anything – it matured :)
