Dry leaf – CHOCOLATE, NUT, FRUIT: dark chocolate and cocoa, with notes of roast peanut, orange peel, and dried apricot. In preheated vessel – rich fruit develops: dried apricot, peach, orange peel, peach jelly candy, some fruity oiliness
Smell – NUT, FRUIT: roast peanut, peach notes, hint of green leaf/twig bitterness
Taste – NUT, FLORAL, MINERAL, TART, PEACH: In the mouth, general oolong roasted nuttiness, vanilla and light floral scents come up from time to time; slight wet rock minerality and green leaf astringency; fruity tartness carries hints of strong peach flavor that is to develop. Aftertaste brings a wave of peach (fresh, peach jelly, peach jelly candies, even peaches and cream), that is balanced by a perfectly balanced mineral “bassline.”
So, this is the famous ya shi.
What a great session. First of all, PEACH! This thing screams peach. Not at first, but, once that first hui gan comes rolling around… It’s strong, it’s rich, it has depth – all kinds of various peach flavors come from the throat and coat your mouth.
This is so delightful (not a word I use often!) and so distracting, in a way, that it took me a while to appreciate the in-mouth flavors. At first, I kind of wrote them off as a little subdued, a little (just a little) lacking in complexity. However, after pausing and taking my time with it, I began enjoying these flavors as well. In the mouth, the experience is drier, with an intriguing development of pleasant tannins and minerality subdued by a familiar roasted nuttiness and oolonginess. There is a fruity tartness, too, that hints at the waves of peach that are about to arrive.
So, A+ on providing an interesting and rewarding tea session that got my Saturday off to a great start.
A few parting notes – One, this guy has some staying power. After 6 (maybe 7) steeps, the flavors get a little woodier, not in a bad way, but you can tell you have tapped out the initial flavors of the leaf. Nonetheless, the peach flavors continue as strong as ever, to the point where I felt a little guilty ending the session. Probably could do something with the spent leaves and have some awesome iced tea or something.
Two, I don’t really note qi. I don’t seek after it, and most teas generally make me feel about the same. This tea, however, has some power. On one particular day that started at 5:15 am, I had two rounds of tea – some raw pu’erh about 9 years old in the morning, and this stuff in the early afternoon. The oolong won. Way more power – totally tea drunk.
In fact, currently tea drunk. Post too long. Must end. Get some of this – you won’t be disappointed.
