ZP82 Pre-Chingming Golden Monkey 2011

I brewed this in the Yixing. Lite cocoa notes. I am not doing backflips over this tea yet. It’s a warm and inviting tea. Maybe the second steeping will do it more justice. I let it steep much longer than the first. The second is a darker liquor. Maybe in my next brewing I will add more leaves and a longer steeping and hope that it improves. This is one of my many samples from Upton. As far as tea intoxication goes, it has delivered a nice morning buzz.

Very nice tea. I love the colour and I love the chocolate notes.

Upton describes the pre-chingming teas thusly, “The festival of Chingming (Qingming) is a 2500 year-old tradition in which people visit the burial sites of their ancestors to pay respect. It is significant in Chinese tea culture because it serves as a demarcation between a distinct pre-Chingming plucking period and the subsequent plucking period occuring after the festival date (usually around April 5). Pre-Chingming teas are prized for their delicacy and subtle, fresh nuances.”

This Golden Monkey is very intense and chocolatey if steeped in the 4-5 minute range as Upton prescribes. Try a shorter infusion—only then do the subtle fruity flavors come out, revealing a glorious cup that will compel me to try other early spring teas from China.