This sample remnant in a doypack had been sitting in a Mylar with some other samples and a 72RH Boveda since late November, with the doypacks open. For some reason, keeping the doypacks open hydrated the doypacks as well, as the paper part of each was noticeably damp to the touch. I was checking on the RH and couldn’t resist trying this. It was at 55 RH. I’m not sure what it was like the last time I drank it, but probably around low 30s since that tends to be what my room is at and the doypacks don’t seal in humidity all that well sometimes.
5.0g, 90 mL gaiwan, 212f, Brita filtered tap.
Dry leaf still not terribly aromatic. Dry woody, slight sour.
20s rinse, which I kind of regret. These Wistaria teas seem to die quick sometimes.
wet leaf: dry smoky woodiness, some underlying dark fruit.
Let it sit for 30 min. before continuing by accident as I got distracted.
8s: slight bitter initially, but then tang and strong sweetness, something apple-like, bright and crisp. A medicinal aspect.
8s: stronger bitterness and sweetness. A defocusing effect, felt like attention was softly pulled away and dispersed. Taste has some sort of apple skin/kombucha effervescence in the end taste. Not quite sure how to describe, but bright
12s: much sweeter upfront. more of the apple quality. A sweetness in throat, a slight dark floral aspect, and a light mushroomy quality.
10s: similar, but brighter
20s: much lighter
1 min: tangy, floral, and bright, almost plummy. slight bitterness.
took a break in between to eat dinner.
2 min: renewed strength/bitterness. Aftertaste is sharp florals, with a slight plummy aspect.
1 min: crisp apple-taste. bright.
1 min: similar, and starting to grasp why shah8 always mentions a characteristic carrot-y aspect to Nannuo area teas.
1 min: lighter.
2 min: bland. Something like tea flavored water, so I thermos’d the rest since it was bed time anyway.
Thermos was simple, just a tame plummy note, but enjoyable.
Overall: Only noticeably defocusing slightly during first steep and strongly, during second steep. Not sure if due to not being as focused during later steeps this time or what.
I’m sure this review was in no small part affected by that I hadn’t had a sheng in a little over a month, so small caveat on my 180 here. This time was mostly fine, stomach only felt a little funny afterwards, but no pain. Still going back to shou to stay safe in the meantime. Personal digression aside, I’m also impressed in no small part by the effect of rehydrating to completely remove the presence of the weird rubbery off note that was prevalent across the Wistaria maochas from LP the last time I had this. And not only that, but also shifting the brunt of the unpleasant astringency and drying towards a salivating effect. This was a really excellent session, with impressive sweetness in the first few steeps, and some deeper sweetness in the back of mouth and throat in some steeps. Anyway, this session makes me glad that LP is out of stock on this or else I’d be quite tempted to buy maocha that I have no real space to store (aside from the cost…).
