90

Update 4/8/2017: I followed my own advice and decreased first five steeps each to 3 seconds. That helped a lot and the tea was much more approachable. This session went a dozen steeps, and although the later steeps were obviously weaker in flavors, they had a delicious creamy texture that made it worth it to keep steeping.

Original review:

My first sheng ever. Before this for puerh I had only tried a couple shu, and one of them was a realy bad marine backwater fest. So, I had no idea what to expect with this sheng.

I read of people talking about all these flavors and fruits in sheng, and I was skeptical that I would pick them out. So, the highlight of this sheng experience was how readily the apricot stood out for me, upfront and as a wonderful lingering aftertaste.

A second session made me realize that the apricot is actually for me closer to a dried fruit from the Andes in Peru called aguaymanto (Peruvian ground cherry, dried). There is a tartness. Also discerned a floral character, jasmine, and maybe honey.

But, I also learned with this tea that I was over-steeping it. With 5 grams/75 ml and initial steep of 20s/10s/7s….I was mistakingly trying to extract a more intense fruit flavor that way, but I instead was confronted with a smoky bitter burnt and too-astringent experience.

So I backed off, increased the leaf:water ratio and less time steeping, that mellowed things out. My bad, but I learned.

Really enjoyed that dried fruit enduring aftertaste.

Flavors: Apricot, Dried Fruit, Floral, Jasmine, Smoke

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 75 ML
McNally

Thanks for sharing your first experience with sheng! I just started drinking them a couple of months ago and have fallen in love with them. Enjoy your tea journey!

Shishupi

Thanks, you as well!

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McNally

Thanks for sharing your first experience with sheng! I just started drinking them a couple of months ago and have fallen in love with them. Enjoy your tea journey!

Shishupi

Thanks, you as well!

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I have a small tea tray next to me at work (a school), and desk drawers full of small jars and cakes of tea. It seems rather mysterious to many students, some of whom want to try the teas and learn to manage the gaiwan, which perhaps inspires a life-long tea odyssey.

Ratings:

95+ are teas I want to have on hand and buy again. I am willing to pay a higher price than my usual threshold.

90-94 are teas that I highly praise and recommend, and they are welcome additions to my collection. I could buy them again.

80-89 are teas that I am thankful for trying, but I would keep searching for other teas before buying again.

79 or less is indicative of a disappointing tea for me.

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