I got a sample of this tea from a friend in tea, Michal.
The maocha of which this tea has been kept in loose form for several years, it could be why it is so interesting.
Dry leaves show the pressing was not too heavy, leaves are quite large and not broken. The tea iss already fermented a lot, leaves are something between green and reddish-brown.
The aroma of leaves was rather interesting, the basis reminded me of good shu puerh (if something like that exists at all :-)), but someting more was present. A hint of camphor and a bit of aged "green" taste of sheng puerh.
This is how the tea looks like when brewed.
The second photo has been made to capture the very good clarity of the tea. I think it is one of characteristics of a good tea. Not that I would never drink a good tea, clarity of which was low, but these were exceptions really. Unclear broth often suggests bad storage.
Basically, what was in the smell of leaves was in the taste already. At times (mostly in the first several brews), I was not sure whether this is an unusual sheng or a fantastic shu.
The taste is lovely, calm, full-bodied and sweet. No sourness or astringency is present. It is very well aged, no cellar smell, yet it has aged a lot already. Probably the effect of maocha aging in loose forms for several years (By the way, do you find it interesting too, that some loose stored shengs age so badly and some other so well?).
The taste is slightly fruity (like very ripe peaches and plums maybe, a bit of lychee too), a bit of barley, all riding on the thick and sweet layer under it (the layer is quite similar to tender shu).
The aftertaste was not particularly long, but it was definitely nice and the tea had very calm and enjoyable cha qi.
Leaves after I finished drinking the tea. They smelled mostly after very ripe lychee.
It was a very interesting tea to drink. A friend of mine told me that shu-lovers loved it absolutely. I can't say I'd be positively blown away, my preferred tastes are slightly somewhere else. Nevertheless, this is a great tea, very well made, very well stored. Try it if you can.
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat