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“Brewed gongfu in a 110ml yixing (sheng dedicated), 205F/96C Rinse (30s): Liquor is a golden yellow. Fair cup aroma after pouring out smells sweet young-sheng. Lid aroma is similar, bright, vegetal,...” Read full tasting note
“Gongfu! I went into this tea session with a completely blank slate of expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by just how soft and smooth the liquor of this tea was! It did get thicker and more...” Read full tasting note
Our 2022 Hypnotrain raw Puer blend.
Unfolding layered complexity of aroma and flavor. Slowly gains momentum before ramping up to a syrupy, entrancing sweetness that endures long after the tea is gone. Smoothed out with a multiple years of maocha from our storage, this tea is an experience straight out of the gate. Age further, it’ll just get sweeter.
Each mini is ~7g.
Brewed gongfu in a 110ml yixing (sheng dedicated), 205F/96C
Rinse (30s): Liquor is a golden yellow. Fair cup aroma after pouring out smells sweet young-sheng. Lid aroma is similar, bright, vegetal, an unexpected toasty note, and florals in the background. A sip of the rinse is a little bitter (was a longer rinse to be fair), honey and floral notes, and a fruit somewhere in there. Inside the pot, the tea has opened just about fully – I cracked the dragon ball before entering it.
First steep (10s): Lid aroma is floral-vegetal with that toasty note, smelling strongly of stale cut flower stalks. Color is a similar gold, maybe with a touch more orange this time. Flavor is on the warm side, floral, honey, a spice note. There’s a fair bit going on and I don’t have the skill to parse it all out. A bit of astringency still in this short steep, but not problematic – I’m sure some would consider it enjoyable. The after taste has a distinct characteristic wit ha bit of cooling sensation on the tong, but not in the throat.
Second steep (15s): Color is now closer to orange, a sort of ocher-orange. Lid aroma retains that young sheng floral-vegetal scent, though the toasty note is gone in favor of a syrup-sweet note. Astringency has stepped up almost dominating the flavors. Behind it is a similar warm vegetal-floral bouquet familiar to young sheng. Not as much spice note as last steep. The floral note is sharper.
Thirs steep (12s): Color is a similar orange-ocher. Lid aroma is similar but leaning further into a warm-sweet territory. Flavor is warmer with a hint of citrus mixed into the vegetal-floral bouquet. Not quite as astringent this steep, but still prominent.
Fourth steep (15s): Color is back to gold, slightly pale. Flavor is more balanced with the astringency
(went for 8+ steeps)
I’m going to give up on tasting notes to focus on my morning – Overall: a fine sheng, but nothing that impresses me too much. I could see it ageing well, and when I drink my other sample ball, I will likely try steeping at a lower temperature to see what comes out, to lower astringency in favor of the other flavors. The astringency has made the tea a bit less interesting than I’d prefer, inspite of using a seasoned yixing to brew it.
Gongfu!
I went into this tea session with a completely blank slate of expectations, and was pleasantly surprised by just how soft and smooth the liquor of this tea was! It did get thicker and more rich as the session progressed, but for much of the steeps this sheng maintained a delicate floral sweetness. At times it reminded me loosely of elderflower or lilac simple syrup, but lacking any semblance of being close to cloying! Quite lovely all the way until it brewed out many, many steeps into the session!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfJxOOju35d/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7ZuQsCNlRU
