I bought this sample randomly when I decided I wanted to try one of Yunnan Sourcing’s higher-end offerings. The dry leaf had a slightly “green” straw aroma. After a rinse, I was mostly smelling sweet straw.
It started out with mostly straw in the first steep, but from the second steep, the sweetness really kicked in. First it got a bit cakey, then the flavor got a little bit higher, tasting almost fruity.
Steeps 4-8 were the best for this tea. Enough bitterness to give it a backbone, backed up by sweet vanilla and a bit of a mineral note. It was decadently thick with a mouth-coating effect. I started to feel some steady qi as a rising warmth in my chest. The huigan was powerful and lingering, all but begging to be slowly sipped and savored.
The tea started to give out just a touch by the seventh steep. It lost a good amount of the thickness it had possessed, and the pleasant bitterness mostly dissipated. There was still a lot to like about the subsequent three steeps. Some good straw sweetness re-emerged, and the finish was more of a clean woodiness than vanilla. It lasted through around 11 or 12 steeps – probably would have gone longer if my sample wasn’t totally loose.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. A fitting tea for my 300th Steepster note!
Flavors: Mineral, Straw, Sweet, Vanilla, Wood
