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I’ve had several sessions with this tea using a gaiwan. Dried leaves are in tact, varied shades of green, and have a subtle sweet apricot fragrance similar to the 2015 YS Qing Mei Shan. When brewed, the leaves release aromas of flowers, edamame, and grilled asparagus.

This is an atypical sheng. It doesn’t have any upfront strong sweetness or cha qi. Instead, I was greeted with tangy, vegetal, and savory flavors. I picked up notes of mustard greens, raw brussel sprouts, edamame, and wild flowers. It’s definitely the greenest sheng I’ve had in recent memory. It’s quite pure and clean tasting with no smoky or earthy notes. Sweeter flowery notes and a comfortable buzz sinks in after the 5th or so steep. This tea is very infuseable. I ended up purchasing a second cake to see how it ages.

Based on sessions with the good ol’ yixing, I noticed an increase in body and sweetness. Whether using a gaiwan or yixing, this tea is refreshing, has a nice mouth feel, and a persistent tangy flowery aftertaste.

I’m learning a lot from those who have left insightful comments! I cannot stress how important it is to “air out” or “rest” one’s new tea before trying it. Then, and maybe relatively less important, allowing the brewed leaves to rest again for a min or two after the first rinse. Here is a great example:

I opened this sample over a week ago and wasn’t terribly impressed. The flavors were more woody, or hay-like, more astringent than bitter, and it had a one-note kind of sweetness that left me a bit bored.

It has been chill’n out in a ziplock bag for over a week. Recently, I’ve experienced surprising changes in flavors and textures from teas that I’ve let rest for at least a week. So, I gave this one another shot:

I placed a 6 gram chunk (no tea dust) of the sample in my 100 ml gaiwan. I let the leaves rest for a few minutes after the first rinse, allowing the leaves to open at their own pace. I was rewarded with something completely unexpected. The the tea liquor came out a very clear and bright pale gold. Much better compared to the first session which was more opaque. The dried leaves smelled of sweet grapefruit, apricots, and orchids.

The each infusion is very pure tasting and unexpectedly fruity with a very pleasant bitterness in the background that gradually increased in later steeps. Very nice huigan, mouth feel (kougan), and fruity aftertaste that resulted from the bitterness. This continued past the 7th steep. This tea reminded me of a Lao Man’E (dare I say!) I tried back in Beijing.

One bonus was the tea blossom I found in the brewed leaves. :)

I purchased the 2015 version, which is a real treat. Tasting 2014 feels almost like cheating since I get to see how this tea’s sweetness evolves. Similar to the 2015, I get ripe apricots, sugar plums, rock sugar, and a pungent orchid aroma at the bottom of the cup reminiscent of fragrant summer nights (heightened in the 2014). Later steeps reveal interesting textures, savory notes, and a spicy sweetness.

True to their description, Qing Mei Shans are extremely pure tasting and buttery. No doubt this material is well sourced. The cha qi gently sneaks in there, but is quite powerful once it takes hold. I’m feeling tea buzzed after the 4th steep. This tea great body and is expansive in the mouth. Wonderful mouth-feel and hui gan! It’s almost blissful. The aftertaste is very pleasant and persistent. Time will bring out more interesting textures and sophisticated sweetness from this tea.

Note: Previously, I’ve been using mouth feel and hui gan (returning sweetness) interchangeably, but I learned from drinking this tea that they are, in fact, quite different!

Progression notes 1 year since purchase:
This has become a better tea. It’s developing more complex and distinctive floral (honeysuckle), sweet wood (sandalwood and maple) and spice notes (peppercorn and arugula) with more pronounced cooling effects covering the tongue.

I don’t drink much shu, but I’m happy with this purchase. The tea cake is attractive with specs of red and orange amidst deep purples and browns, and quite compact. The tea soup is a deep clear burgundy. Initial steeps are smooth and later ones reveal more nuances than most previous shus I’ve tried. I picked up subtle hints of bittersweet dark chocolate, sour grape/red wine notes. It also has an aftertaste that lingers for a while. I may add more leaf in future brews.

I don’t find it as sweet as others have, but subtle bitterness in the aftertaste indicate its aging potential.

This is my first pheonix Dan Cong oolong. It’s a simple and pleasant daily drink. Strong roasted barley and subtle rock sugar notes linger on the tongue and have a mouth-watering effect. It’s quite refreshing. There is a prominent mineral element to it that reminds me of Wuyi oolongs, rather than Dan Cong. I’m on the 4th steep and I still don’t pick up any fruity or flowery notes.

I like the tea, but there is no “mi lan xiang” to speak of in this tea. This may be the first time I’ve been disappointed with an order from YS. Perhaps my package was mislabeled?

EDIT:

After one year of resting in its original pack it’s now a very different tea. The tea liquor has evolved from yellow to a clear rose/orange hue. The initial roasted flavors have given way to dried fruit and tropical floral sweetness that sits on the tongue for some time.

I also don’t recall this tea having much body, but maybe some traceable mouthfeel. Now, it is clearly full and active in the mouth. It has also developed a thick viscosity and soft and smooth texture.

This was a fun experiment! Too bad they’re sold out.

I ordered this tea as a sample. I’ve been saving it for an evening after a stretch of stressful days. The dried leaves were largely intact thanks to Scott for his thoughtfully breaking off the tea leaves from the bing into flattened layers instead of thick chunks.

This is a powerful tea. Definitely something to drink without distractions. The wet leaves are highly fragrant. The tea has a wonderful body and huigan with a fruity, flowery and nectar-like sweetness for many steeps. The huigan intensifies from the 3rd steep on wards, slowly expanding in the mouth and throat with a warm flowery sweetness.

Other notes I’ve picked up are wild honey, lavender, sandal wood, dried apricot, cane sugar, minerals, and camphor. It becomes more complex and savory in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th steeps. I’m going to leave the rest to finish tomorrow otherwise I won’t be able to sleep. The tea leaves a honey-like aroma in the empty cup. I would purchase a tong if I had the cash. Teas from southern Xishuangbanna are reputed for their aging potential, and this one is definitely worth adding to any collection for current consumption of future aging.

There are many conflicting claims about the aging possibilities of white tea. This offering proved that it is not only possible, but in some ways more desirable. Dried leaves are as shown in the photo and have a dried apricot and flowery aroma. The wet leaves have a sent of sweet kamkuat that is consistent through many steeps. It’s very easy to brew and never gets bitter or astringent. The tea soup is a beautiful apricot orange and very clear.

I don’t pick up any strong flavors, but rather smooth, mellow, deep, and a subtle sweetness that evolves from dried fruit to spicy honey. There’s no wow factor, but rather a soothing energy that stays in the gut. It seems to aid digestion. In many aspects, it’s a white tea that behaves like a dark tea, which I think makes it intriguing.

Where it lacks in aftertaste it compensates with great body that remains in the mouth as a warming and mouthwatering sensation rather than a flavor. This can be steeped 15+ times without loosing flavor or body. It’s very soothing on the stomach and doesn’t seem to be high in caffeine.

I was excited to sample some mao cha, but never found anything quite as affordable as this. I had no idea what to expect since the site is new and didn’t seem to specialize in any particular tea. Lots of big claims in this tea’s description that didn’t seem to match the price, but I thought I would give it a try regardless. Setting my expectations pretty low, I was met with a pleasant surprise.

The leaves were wonderfully intact and quite attractive. I placed around 7 grams in my oonggi (a Korean earthenware jar that works well for tea storage) to hangout for 24 hours. The next day the dried leaves were more than twice as fragrant as before. Their fragrance when brewed was almost intoxicating. Very prominent honey-ed peach and apricot fragrances. These flavors along with strong floral notes were prominent in 5 successive brews.

I felt the tea drunkenness setting in by the 4th brew, which I attribute to the cha qi, which doesn’t overwhelm the head, but instead spreads everywhere. Fruit, floral, and honey-ed flavors were accompanied with sharp bitter, almost spicy, notes that were more prominent on the 5th and 6th brews, which transformed into a nice huigan that lingers in the mouth.

I still don’t know if the ancient tree claims are true, but it has those qualities of very nice raw pu’er with great aging potential. The fresh flavors make it hard to believe they were processed in 2011, but for $2.65 for 50g, it’s certainly worth a try.

Addendum: Having had this tea multiple times in various settings, I can say the tea is powerful with consistent qi for 12+ steeps, medium bodied, typical in its Mengku/Lincang flavor profile (nutty, ripe apricot, bitter tobacco, smoke, and high floral notes) and still dirt cheap. I ended up purchasing a large 250 g bag to age.

I tried the 2013 autumn version of this tea and was highly impressed. I think that’s a good indication of where this spring tea is headed. Without even opening the plastic seal of this cake I was met with a pungent aroma of well-ripened apricots. I was very excited to try this cake, but my experience tells me that waiting a day or so improves the flavor of any recently acquired tea that’s just been opened. Actually, with sheng pu’er, a couple of weeks is even better.

I mentioned in my last note for the 2013 version the importance of water quality. Since I’m brewing this at my parents’ house, I know their water differs based on having brewed the same teas with the same brewing vessels both here and at my place. I’m boiling water with special rocks I brought back from China called maifanshi (麦饭石) which I’ve been using for many years. Obviously, a Brita or Pur water filter works just fine. In fact, the rocks aren’t totally necessary, but they definitely make your water taste like natural spring water and bring out the natural sweetness and aroma from the tea.

Back to this tea: I’ve placed the dried leaves in a porcelain gaiwan. The leaves are well intact and the brewed leaves maintain that apricot aroma, albeit less pungent and accompanied by sweet flowery fragrances. Tea soup has a vibrant gold hue. The first steep (that I brewed too quickly) is very pure and has a simple sweetness, but wonderfully buttery texture and aftertaste that only get sweeter as it lingers in the mouth (huigan).

The second and third infusions are very clean, have more pronounced flavor notes of ripe apricot, sugar cane, and flowers, while accompanied by that smooth buttery mouth feel and extended huigan. That wonderful mouth feel and strong yet gentle aftertaste is what brought me back to this tea. I tend to prefer sharp spring flavors to mellow sweetness, but this one is an exception.

On the sixth and seventh steeps, the apricot sweetness is replaced by more flowery notes and a refreshing astringency that’s expected with new tea. The pure taste and powerful huigan are consistent, but the huigan has intensified and is very enjoyable. I plan to return to this tea next year.

Addendum:

This tea just keeps getting sweeter and fuller in the mouth. I’m not sure why teadb rated the Qing Mei Shan as underwhelming. It’s my one of my favorites from Scott’s 2015 line. This is a perfect example of how subjective tea tasting can be.

Yongde’s Big Snow Mountain area produced some of my favorite teas. Needless to say, this one had big shoes to fill.

I do like this tea for its regional characteristics and aging potential. It’s not as impact-full or fruity as Finepuer’s 2009 version (when will they ever restock I do not know…), but it shares some qualities that I think are unique to the Yongde Big Snow Mountain area, such as a varied sweetness that coats the tongue for a long time. I picked up notes of chocolate and vanilla bean. The tea soup is a bright orange and a bit on the opaque side. It has that sharpness I like, which should round out in the next year or so.

The highly potent cha qi, indicative of the tea’s unique origin, is immediately felt and is making me feel flushed in the face. This is unusual for me, as cha qi normally moves downward towards my solar-plexus and then down to my core. This one affects me much like a 3rd glass of wine.

The aftertaste is long and powerful, as well. Although, I’m not a fan of the pronounced grainy feeling (not numbing) left on my tongue, I am left with an overall pleasant experience. Certainly, this is a wonderful candidate for aging, but not bad to drink now either.