2017 Yunnan Sourcing "Big Snow Mountain" Wild Arbor Raw

I got this as a sample from Togo, thanks! The dry leaves had a distinct look, silvery and beige and smelled of floral, lemon, mineral soil and pine. This sample was totally loose but it seems like the cake might be lightly compressed. Warming the leaf brought out a really strong aroma with the addition of fresh apricot. Had me swoonin’ for a minute. The rinse brought out some mushroom, too. The gold liquor was tart and had some characteristic youth bitterness and astringency yet it was very smooth. It was bright and lively in the mouth with some light tastes of apricot, honey and florals. The aftertaste was buttery/yeasty with light honey. Despite the astringency, I could still feel a layer of oil on my tongue.

I really enjoyed this tea’s clean character reminiscent of a damp mountain forest on a sunny day. While it’s drinkable now, I think aging might do some wonderful things. It’s a shame it’s sold out – good deal for $39. Would make an excellent daily drinker. I hope whoever owns a cake enjoys it :)

From the wet leaves I get a sweet, cooling aroma with some conifer forest qualities. On the other hand the empty cup has an incredibly strong beeswax smell.

The taste of the tea is fairly sweet, floral and mineral, displaying pine, honey and fermented fruit notes. Liquor is medium bodied and the mouthfeel I get is is sticky, buttery and powdery in the finish. After swallowing I get a throat clenching and contractive feeling as well as chilli spiciness that lasts for a while. After it passes, the aftertaste becomes quite floral and sweet again.

Overall, I didn’t find the tea to be terribly complex, nevertheless it is very yummy.

This is a raw fresh Sheng I immediately felt in love with! Already the scent which conquers your whole scenting experience within a blink of an eye contains such a fresh, cold high mountain atmosphere. I can literally feel the mist covering those mountains within the first morning hours while you breath in this fresh and slightly soaked wet air af

ter a rainy night. The balance of the actual taste is simple said “Breath taking” – it is so well composed with such a distinct floral and fruity sweet atmosphere plus a lovely touch of a beeswax & honey note to it but different as I am normally used to (in a good way). Because most of the time those raw Shengs are quite similar within their typical nuances – what I mean is “Honey and Beeswax” so far it is noticeable it unfolds in most of the cases in a similar profile but not this guy. And again you can literally taste those mountains, all its environment from the soil, to the rocks and minerals, the fresh springs and plants surrounding that area. I love it! Definitely gonna buy the whole cake soon!