41 Tasting Notes

87

Well this is what I like about YS… Site posts tea from a village I’d never heard of for a completely reasonable price, I sample it, it’s actually quite unique and a pleasure to drink. Incredibly pungent, it smells of sweet musk and fruit. Once it gets going its pretty thick and dark, and feels oily in the mouth. There are sudden notes of sweet mint and honey, but the base is much earthier- barn-straw dark green moss. Certainly an enjoyable experience.

Flavors: Honey, Mint, Straw, Wet Moss

boychik

i must try it ;)

Ginkosan

I think its worth sampling his line each year, for one’s own tea-edification if nothing else

jschergen

I’ve generally felt pretty positively about Scott’s Jinggu teas. Decent for the price. My favorite is the Huang Shan followed by the Daqing Gushu. They’re also the most expensive but worth the extra money IMO.

Ginkosan

Agree. Ranking goes Huang Shan, Da Qing, Zao Qiao.

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90

Good stuff this one. Initial steepings are light, but with a deep resonating back-of-palette bitterness and a granary sweetness that picks up the more it is steeped. The soup is dense, actually an opaque light-yellow that reminds me of an IPA. Flavors are nutty, with a sweet-corn and honey suckle quality that is somewhat ubiquitous north of Banna, but is intensely focused and balanced in this tea. By the third cup it is intensely bitter and in-your-face-floral. In fact, the bitterness seems to be everywhere in my mouth, from the way-back to right behind my teeth. If you’re a fan of scott’s Lincang/Simao pressings and enjoy some ku-ku-cha, then I’d recommend this…

Flavors: Corn Husk, Honeysuckle, Jasmine

tanluwils

I’ve read a few tasting notes for this tea and it’s autumn counterpart, which seems to be more popular that the spring version. Which one do you prefer? Also, I’m seeing similar tasting notes between this and the Huang Shan Gu Shu—which I thoroughly enjoy. Did you find this one to be more bitter and intensely floral? My sample is still in the mail.

kevdog19

I drank the Huang Shan a few days ago and this one today. Both superb teas, but I am leaning on the Huang Shan a little bit more. I think it depends more on the person’s taste since they both have such awesome features. The one is energetic and in your face, the other is smooth sweet and crisp.

mrmopar

You guys are killing me…. I must wait…

TeaExplorer

But then it might be all gone mrmopar
(just kidding … they’ve got plenty)

mrmopar

Oh no, its the pumidor. I had this in shipping for two months and that needs 2 weeks to wake back up.

TeaExplorer

Ah… I misunderstood. I’ve been letting my cakes rest for several months. Am I being too cautious?

mrmopar

I think you would be fine. I always try to abstain for a few weeks after I get them in.

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85

Wu Liang remains a value champion. Incredibly smooth, buttery tea with almost perfect processing. Wu Liang terroir still is incredibly indistinguishable from Menghai terroir for me… Its dense, and all apricots, tobacco, and kuwei. This seems like a terrific bargain for either drinking now or aging…

Flavors: Apricot, Malt, Tobacco

TeaExplorer

I’ve got a cake of this arriving in a few hours (if tracking info is correct). Looking forward to trying it after airing some out.

jschergen

Have you been of Scott’s older Wuliang productions? I’d be curious to hear how they’ve come along.

Ginkosan

I finished off a cake of 12 earlier this year. Was more pipe tobacco and dark straw. Definitely see these aging well…

Ginkosan

If you’re referring to base quality though I’d say (from this sample) that it seems higher. There was some wok charring on the 12 cake and I didn’t notice any on the 15. This appears to me to be true of most of his cakes…

jschergen

That’s interesting. I actually sessioned the 2015 Wuliang maybe 3 months ago against the 2012 and noted the same thing. Since I never had the 2012 before this year I wasn’t 100% sure what to make of it, but it was noticeably lower with a bit more earth notes.

tanluwils

While I yet to try more than a few Wu Liang teas. I find Menghai generally has more variety within its sub-regions. Mengsong, Hekai, Bu Lang, and Ba Da seem quite different from one another. However, I hear Xishuangbanna tea trees are suffering from over harvesting which has many implications for overall tea quality. It’s got me rethinking future tea purchases.

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80
drank 2005 Rocket Yiwu by white2tea
41 tasting notes

This is good, certainly a solid tea, it’s creamy, woodsy and floral, as I would expect from older Yiwu. For some reason I’m just not feeling it though… maybe it’s because I’m still jamming on young sheng and am not quite ready for the winter transition into older puer, but this just doesn’t come off as super remarkable to me. Certainly I can’t fault it, it’s very clean and there are no off-flavors, but imho the Gao Shan Qing Bing doe everything this one does and costs half the price…

edit- checked W2T, well, not half the price, but 20 less…

Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Wood

kevdog19

I find this very interesting because I too find similar vibes from the 2005 “Big green tree” which is also yiwu. Nothing wrong with the tea by any means, strong synchronized flavors and is extremely smooth. But, it just doesn’t find it’s way to being one to boast about. Mellow to non-existent qi and same goes for mouthfeel.

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90

I’m not sure why this one is so much cheaper this year… was expecting the material to be lesser quality, but it doesn’t seem to be. These dark olive-green leaves brew a creamy, bitter, musky soup with terrific energy. It’s pretty subtle, no particular flavors really strike me, maybe its somewhat floral and nutty, but I have to push even for that. Its more about the creamy mouth-coating soup and lingering texture than big bold flavors, which is just fine. Very pure tea, extremely drinkable and enjoyable.

Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Nutty

boychik

which one of YS is your favorite in 2015 collection?

Ginkosan

Huang Shan Gushu so far, this one gives it a run for its money though… Haven’t tried the Yiwu baby-cakes, as they are beyond what I’m willing to pay for young sheng…

boychik

ive tried 2014 Bang Dong, it was really good. the question now whats better 2014 or 2015? lol

Ginkosan

I only had a sample of the 14 BD once while it was very young and I wasnt in ideal conditions… wasn’t blown away by it, but I’ve got a buddy who swears by it right now.

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92

hooho boy this is crazy good. All Scott’s Jingu-area teas I’ve tried this year are really pretty dynamic and different, going again to show us how much variety there can be in a relatively small area. This one reminds me a lot of a Mengku/Bingdao area profile. That is, it is very pure, sweet and thick, with an icy-cool bite. It is also extremely subtle, but I’d say there are notes of musky wildflowers and honeysuckles, with a vegetal sweetness that seems closest to sweet bell-peppers. The bitterness is solid and gives it this tea a good structure while not being overpowering, and it brews very even across many infusions. I’d almost say this tea seems underpriced…

Flavors: Bell Pepper, Floral, Honeysuckle

jschergen

I found this one to be generally excellent as well.

BigDaddy

I passed over this one because of its descriptor and its photo on the YS site. Old arbor leads me to envision a solid tree 10-20 feet tall, but the photos show a small tree equal in stature to those picking. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as it tastes good. Will add to wishlist

jschergen

Like @ginkosan I sampled through the majority of the Jinggu teas from this harvest and thought this was the standout. Definitely worth trying.

Ginkosan

From what I understand it’s a tree’s root-structure that matters most, that way the leaves absorb the most from the surrounding area (that’s what gives it terroir), so appearances can be deceiving…

boychik

i just got a cake with last sale based on your recs

Ginkosan

Did you get this one? It was my favorite so far of his 15 line. Not sure what your tastes are, I liked this one because it’s very pure and has a strong body-feeling.

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100
drank 2015 Bosch by white2tea
41 tasting notes

Had this one with a friend last week, been meaning to get around to posting a review, and, well, the qi is strong with this one. Seriously. At around 4 or 5 steepings in I started to feel like I was on drugs. This cake is clearly from Lincang- it is thick and bitter, but strangely balanced for being as strong as it is, with a granary-sweetness and the familiar pungent stank that I associate with the region. If I had to name its flavors, I’d say it tends towards the floral and herbaceous side of things, but that being said its pretty hard to pin down… While this cake is well out of my current price-range for a 200g baby-cake, I’m glad I had the opportunity to sample it and experience a tier of tea that I hadn’t had. I mean, goddamn, I could still taste and feel this tea more than an hour after the session.

Flavors: Bitter, Eucalyptus, Floral, Herbs

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88

Okay, well, I may be easy to please, but I’d say this guy does live up to the hype. Thick, sweet, and oily, I’m not sure what else there is to ask for, especially for an autumn harvest tea. It is pungent and bitter, with notes of wild grasses and honey suckles. The first time I brewed this, I got more straight-forward fruit flavors, but for whatever reason now I’m getting the more floral complexity and musk, which is what I look for this time of the year.

Flavors: Floral, Grass, Honeysuckle, Nutmeg

jschergen

Aha. You do have it! +1 on the recommendation.

Ginkosan

haha yeah it was up next to review today. I think I have one or two more from the bag of samples.

mrmopar

Y’all are killing me , How will I explain another Yunnan Sourcing order I wonder.

boychik

I love thick oily sheng. Wish listed

Doug F

ditto.

Ginkosan

Damn you Scott for pressing a Spring flush of this cake…

tanluwils

Why is this one more popular than its spring counterpart?

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95

This cake is simply mind-blowing, and is one of Scott’s best. One of my buddies had this in early 2014, when it was about 6 months old, and I bought one last October and still have about 150-200g remaining, so I’ve seen it change over the last couple of years. Throughout, it has been remarkably easy to drink, but has thickened and sweetened considerably this summer. It almost reminds me of a Taiwanese Oolong; there is very little bitterness, yet is cooling, it produces a thick, viscous soup with notes of vibrant, green spring vegetables. I like to make this one for people who are new to quality Chinese tea and Gong Fu.

Flavors: Creamy, Honey, Vegetal

jschergen

Always wondered how this was!

tanluwils

You’re very generous to Chinese tea newbies. :)

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