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Delicious tea from YS at a very good price.
crushed raspberries
coffee, dark chocolate
more ash driven at first

not quite as lingering as the Imperial Laoshan

So, apparently, this is the last of this particular tea. The plot where this tea is from has since been cleared as per gov’t orders to plant native trees.

I found my tasting notes from about a year ago.
I’ve brewed this tea many different ways, though my favourite is to probably use a far greater leaf to water ratio than i normally would, along with a far longer steep time than normal. For example, at one point I think I used about 12g tea in my 120ml gaiwan and steeped for a minute or two. Flavour overload
The tea stands up to it well.

Anyway, some general notes:
very floral
buttery lettuce
more buttery than vegetal
very creamy sweet and round on palate
high toned floral on palate as well
creamed corn
a lot of mid-palate umami
almost meaty when steeped longer
more nutmeg spice comes out in later steepings

Powerful yet still delicate

lovely aromas of brioche, malt,
flavours of malt, medium dark chocolate, bread and slight pepper at the end. fine chalky tannins.
very long finish

This is for the Spring 2017

first steep. strong spinach and iron. slight flint. friend says mushroom.
more floral with cooler water
lingering minerality
I wanted to try to see what good unroasted TieGuanYin ‘should’ taste like

thick robust malty, dark chocolate, smoke, sweet potato
medium astringency, but is outweighed by the sweet malty flavours

quick note for now. Initially extremely malty, but this is then tempered by savoury and floral components, which add complexity. smooth and round. medium-bodied.
reminds me a lot of the Ai Lao black from YS

strong malty and baked potato, wood shavings. bit of something sweeter like marshmallow.
Palate is round, soft and malty with touches of smoke. as my morning tea, this is just fine, but not very complex.
Curious if this will change with time

Thought I’d review this again as we are tasting the 2016 vs the 2017.

Wet leaf
2016: peppery and vegetal
2017: more intense aromas. creamed corn, floral and mild pepper

liquor and aroma
2016: bitter vegetal.
again very vegetal and peppery. high astringency

2017:
floral
high astringency, but not as noticeable due to the creaminess/umami. bit of a lactic quality like a sour sausage

Overall, the 2017 is more floral, mouth-filling and balanced. whether this is merely due to being fresher rather than vintage variation unknown, but fun to compare.

Strongly aromatic dry leaf. rose, cardamom, candy cherry. All very bright, which carries through to tea. Tea liquor similar along with orane peel.
palate is light with more light cherry, slight eucalyptus, very mild malt and fine astringency.

perhaps lacking a little in mid-palate, but what an interesting flavour profile

Reminds me of some of hte HongYu teas from Taiwan.

Aromas of chamomile, tofu, mixed greens and unripe mango, wax apple.
Fairly brisk on the palate. Green mango initial taste gives way to celery and general vegetal
Later steeps give a slight tickling in the throat