EDIT 20181030 : I’m re-visiting this tea a year later to test a new (second hand, apparently unused) yixing acquisition. Loved it. There was a distinctly warm fragrance in the pot that I didn’t associate with wet storage until after I re-read my notes from below. Time and clay balanced this one out perfectly. Wouldn’t dare to call this tea shou-like to its face now. Although without the clay I think I would. Right there on the balance.
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Folks at YS are getting good at eyeballing 25g chunks. I got a big chunk and only a little bit of extra for a sample. Today I brewed the extra bits.
The semi-wet storage produces a darker and more instant brew, certainly with some shou flavours, but indeed, as YS advertises, little to no storage mustiness to rinse off.
At the start mainly mushroomy shou-ey, later strikingly black tea-like astringency — but this may also be due to reverting to porcelain brewing for a change (and getting some dust in). There’s also something in that (pleasant) astringency that still makes this a sheng. Apart from that it is mainly a mushroomy shou (or wet-storage sheng).
It does get cleaner as time passes, and at one point the leaves even smell clearly floral for a while. Maybe if I switch this one back to clay I can get a warmer, deeper brew out of it after all.
For now, I’ve got this one down as a typical shou-like, wet storage, in spite of the ‘semi wet’ label. I’ve seen wicked prices on similar-tasting wet-storage shengs, so that would make this one a good deal. But it always leaves me wondering why not simply get a cheap-but-decent shou instead.
Since the category is not exactly my cuppa and I can’t figure out the economics, I will neither recommend or disrecommend this tea. Those of us leaning towards wet storage can make up their own mind from the description.
Flavors: Mushrooms, Tannin
