This tea is among the more expensive ripes that YS has produced and one can tell it’s not your standard shou. In fact, it is one of the most unique teas in the category, but in ways that are not always immediately obvious. Despite having a complex flavour profile, I found the experience being mostly anchored by the mouthfeel and cha qi. Unlike a lot of other ripe pu’er, this is not a tea to drink on empty stomach – it is more of a powerhouse than a comforting tea in terms of its energy.
As for the smell, I can detect notes of beef and yorkshire pudding before the rinse and wet earth, coconut shell, caramel, fermented citrus fruits afterwards. There is a very pungent empty cup aroma, which hints that the aftertaste is going to be strong too.
The liquor has a lot of different tastes going on, ranging from honey, cookies, cocoa and roasted nuts, to grilled aubergine, red apple, chamomile, and oak wood. The finish is very sweet and yields to a long-lasting floral sweetness. On top of that, the aftertaste displays an interesting vegetal sourness and a grapefruit bitterness. It is somewhat reminiscent of wood, molasses, and medium roast coffee.
The texture of the liquor is buttery and smooth with a full bodied, bubbly character. After swallowing I get a sandpaper-like mouthfeel which is not drying.
The cha qi is subtle, yet very strong and warming. I find it to be quite disorienting without being defocusing.
As I wrote earlier – a unique tea. It is hard to speculate how it will age, but it’s delicious already.
Flavors: Bitter, Caramel, Char, Citrus, Cocoa, Coconut, Coffee, Compost, Cookie, Floral, Flowers, Grapefruit, Honey, Meat, Molasses, Oak, Pastries, Red Apple, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Sour, Sweet, Thick, Vegetables, Vegetal, Wet Earth, Wood
HeKai has some good material grown there. Nice review. Now I am tempted…
It seems like a nice cake.