The Sheng Olympiad of 2017
Just finishing up the fourteenth steep of the Tuhao as F*#$ dragon ball. Or at least I think that is what it was. It wasn’t labeled but the Hi Tec and Midas Touch were so this one must have been the Tuhao dragon ball. I was quite good. Gave it fourteen steeps. Took several steeps to open up and then a strong bitterness crept it. There was some astringency to it too. But a nice sweet note emerged soon after, not sure what to call it but it was good.
Your picture shows the quality of the leaf : )
So far they have all looked wonderful
I’m starting up my olympiad with the 2010 bang dong.
Totally my kind of Sheng, it got the YS type of profile for me, mellow with the age, deep floral and the nutty sweet taste. Very nice cha qi effect!!!
A good start for me,
and wish everyone a good olympiad :)
Earlier in the thread folks mentioned all trying out one (Tuhao as F!@k was mentioned) together on Christmas eve…folks still into this idea? Maybe those on IG we can hashtag it something clever too to find each other :)
Okay. It’s Christmas eve and I’m drinking the THAF. First impressions are that 1) I don’t really like tea balls and 2) this has an awful lot of cha chi. Hard to tell how powerful the cha qi really is since I’ve had to have a really unusual profile, which is why I made comment #1 (10s, 20s, 30s, then a lot of random 10-20 s steeps. Taste seems OK but not special; hard to be sure due to #1. I think I’ll wind up breaking up the other balls.
A lot of people are with you in regards to #1, but then there are others who really enjoy them. Hopefully it was a good experience though. I tend to stick a pick right through mine which halves it and then it opens by steep 3.
I’m on the other side…like tea balls when I come upon them….i like slowly creeping up on the heart of the tea. This way I get more of a bell curve, then just starting off awesome and fading out…does that make sense? Sorry I’m 5 steeps in!
Just opening up the THAF ball….it’s still very subtle and sweet as it’s still pretty solid and packed…dropping down to 10 seconds steeps though so as not to hurt myself when it does open up :)
More later!
I really liked this tea – strong, sweet with only a bit of good astringency, complex, energetic, stoning, bit of wood maybe, tiny floral, some vegetable I can’t name. It was Christmas eve and I had a lot going on, so it wasn’t the most focused session…however, I do have another ball and greatly look forward to some quality time with it!
Snuck away from the Christmas gathering for a few minutes to relax and drink a few steeps of the Tuhao ball. Wow… everything about this is right up my alley. I’ve been a cha qi skeptic since I got started with tea but I’m now convinced. I really do feel like I’ve just had about a half a small hit of the other green stuff.
It has me contemplating picking up whole cake of it… something I never thought I would do.
Anyway, thanks LP! I’m really enjoying all of the teas.
The TAF ball was great, I picked up a ton of floral and sweet. The qi for me was more of a kickback tea though; however, I just had a 2001 raw a few hours before, so maybe I was already lit. Also, the 2012 Bang Dong is superb! A very nice tea from Tea Urchin.
I’m trying to hold off on the 2012 Bang Dong… I want to try so bad, but I have friends coming over the 7th to drink it.
Made an account just for this thread mostly, at the suggestion of LiquidProust over on reddit. I took the suggestion of trying the 2HAF on Christmas eve.
This was only my sixth or so sheng, and my first in the teaball format. I found the teaball a little tricky, as I felt steep times were trying to hit a moving target. Luckily, unless I’m missing something, this was an exceptionally forgiving tea: flavorful when brewed light but no overpowering bitterness even when perhaps slightly overbrewed.
I really appreciated the light subtle flavor. No real bitterness or grassy astringency to speak of. The aroma of the brewed leaves and lid reminded me for some reason of artichoke cooked in water with lemon. Overall impression is just how smooth it is.
Glad you didn’t find it bitter. I get the taste of overcooked zucchini so I can see the artichoke as well. Everyone taste things differently which makes it even more enjoyable to discuss.
Balls are not for everyone, but you have a few more to try to see if you end up enjoying them or not.
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