Review long overdue as promised…. Sample provided for review, which is based on the second of the two balls. I used my own parameters rather than the website’s. Brewed the 6.3g ball in a gongfu session, using 105ml zitao jianshui pot, at boiling water. Rinsed for a few seconds, rested for a few minutes. Steeping times: 10 seconds, 20, 15, 20, 20, 30, 40, 50; 1 minute, 5.
The dry leaf has a very light floral and sweet aroma. After letting the ball sit in the pre-heated pot, I smell more complex aroma that is buttery, sweet, and youthfully bitter. Again, not very strong. The wet leaf aroma, in contrast, is much more fragrant: stronger youthful bitterness, sweet, tart with citrus zest, and herbal-like with oregano.
The soup has a dark gold color, surprisingly dark having been presumably pressed in mid-2017. This sheng – made out of Jinggu material, fyi – is difficult to brew. The odd steeping times from the website didn’t work out for, but my personal familiar parameters didn’t work out either. It probably could have used longer and fewer steeping times in spite of the ratio not being that low (about 1:16), though 10 infusions is fine.
The first three infusions are somewhat cloudy. It took till the fourth infusion clear up completely and to really get on the ball with flavor and texture. The young bitterness is medium – not soft, but not a punch in the face. Young sweetness is also present. Good balance. I also taste lemon/citrus. The texture is creamy. The soup itself smells like mandarins. Huigan is at its strongest in infusions four through six, the last of which also fills the mouth with a minty flavor. The sweetness becomes an under-flavor in seven and eight. Bitter, vegetal notes take over. Huigan decreases in intensity. Texture loses creaminess but is still thick. The ninth infusion has nearly lost all flavor. A final five-minute steeping produces a heavily bitter soup with light huigan.
As for qi, my head felt stuffed early on in the session. Couldn’t concentrate on reading… I had to take a break to eat something.
Not the most enjoyable young sheng. The wet leaf aroma was complex and lovely, and I liked drinking the very middle infusions. I might be curious of how this could age 20 years down the line.
