This one was weird. I bought it on a whim as part of a Berylleb tea order – should have stuck to Xiaguan tuos and factories I’ve actually heard of. Live and learn lol. It was pretty loosely compressed for a tuo, so I broke off 7.5g for my 120mL gaiwan. The dry leaf aroma was an inoffensive barnyard/hay aroma. Once rinsed, the leaves had a very strong menthol smell to them.
The tea in general was much more minty/menthol than any other young sheng I’ve had. It also brewed up a little bit darker than I would have expected a 2013 to brew. There was some bitterness to this tea which, in the first few steeps, was kind of unpleasant – not because it was too strong, as I love me some sheng with a bite, but it was just an odd bitter note. The tea did get a little bit better after the first few steeps, still lots of of menthol and some thick honey-like notes.
Not a particularly good tea, and a very unusual one as well. I probably won’t drink this tuo up anytime soon, but it might be interesting to revisit it as I hold onto it in the future. At least it was cheap if nothing else.
Flavors: Barnyard, Hay, Honey, Menthol
