I think this was the last of my sipdowns from the previous week. I know I finished like four or five teas I had been working on for some time over the course of the week, and I seem to recall finishing this one last. As much as I enjoyed the spring 2017 Premium AA Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong from Yunnan Sourcing, I expected this tea to be at least as good if not a bit better. Well, as it turned out, this tea did not let me down. I found it to be an excellent Wuyi black tea.
I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.
Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of honey, pine, peach, rose, baked bread, cinnamon, cedar, and raisin. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, malt, and cream. The first infusion introduced a strong aroma of orange zest as well as subtler scents of violet, grass, and chocolate. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of honey, peach, malt, cedar, baked bread, roasted almond, and cream that were balanced by hints of orange zest, pine, chocolate, pear, violet, red apple, and grass. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of apple, pear, plum, lemon zest, butter, earth, and menthol plus stronger scents of grass and violet and some subtle juniper touches. Impressions of cinnamon, raisin, roasted peanut, and rose emerged in the mouth along with stronger pine, orange zest, violet, red apple, pear, chocolate, and grass notes. New notes of minerals, lemon zest, juniper, butter, earth, apricot, menthol, and oats also appeared along with subtle impressions of brown sugar. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, butter, cream, malt, roasted peanut, orange zest, and lemon zest that were backed by hints of baked bread, brown sugar, earth, honey, menthol, and pine.
This was tremendously deep and complex for a Wuyi black tea. I also especially appreciated the harmonious interaction of the aroma and flavor components, the sharp, crisp mouthfeel of the tea liquor, and the tea’s longevity. In my opinion, there was not much of anything to dislike here. If you have had quality Wuyi black teas in the past, this one probably won’t surprise you in any way, but more importantly, it will not disappoint you in the least. All in all, this was just a really, really good Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong.
Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Cedar, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Earth, Grass, Herbaceous, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Menthol, Mineral, Oats, Orange Zest, Peach, Peanut, Pear, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Red Apple, Rose, Violet
I’m sorry to hear that the Lapsang degraded with age. It smelled good when I took it out of the bag, so I thought it would be okay.
I enjoyed reading your reviews of the teas and apologize for how many older ones I included. I really do have issues with my “tea museum!” It’s too bad I hadn’t opened my Wuyi Origin teas and all those 2021 oolongs before I sent that package. I’m glad those older green teas found a good home!
“Tea museum!”—absolutely accurate in my case. Adopting this phrase if I can recall it as needed.
No need for apology! I agreed to try some old ones out of curiosity :) How are the sipdowns coming along? Any reduction of artifacts?
Evol Ving Ness, thanks, I like that phrase myself. It’s disturbingly accurate.
Derk, a few artifacts have been removed from the collection, but they’re always being replaced! I’ve been on an oolong kick lately, so my spring 2021 oolongs may not be joining the permanent archive. :) I’ve found a cache of your samples that I’m also sipping down. Do you have any idea how to brew that Japanese black tea from Liquid Proust?
Glad to see your 2021 oolong are getting the love they deserve :)
Fair warning, I’m totally clueless with Japanese teas!! I did 1g:100mL western style which is my standard for red teas. 90C since it’s a ‘Darjeeling’ for 4 minutes. Maybe start with 3min if you want 2 steeps? It seemed to brew out quickly, so a 4min steep was plenty flavorful but I don’t think it left anything for second steep.