neděle 1. dubna 2012

Two surprises from Yunnan Sourcing

2009 Hai Lang Hao Yi Wu Zheng Shan
Right ho, the lemon first. After almost a year of waiting and pondering, I decided to buy whole cake - at last I might say. I still remember when I had the three great session with a sample of it. Today, I opened the cake, smelled it and tasted it. Expectations may hurt sometimes...such was my gloom...


The issue is, that this is different tea. It is likely that the sample I received back then was misplaced. I quite well remember how I thought its taste unlike a Yiwu tea, looking and tasting older than 2009... how I read Hobbes's notes on it and felt strangely in disagreement with his notes. It sounded so different.

Now, after reading his notes again and comparing them with this tea, I have to agree. It is not as fruity as many Yiwu cakes - it is much more in the nutty/buttery cluster - a very nice tea, but not that uber-lovely thing I got as a sample. Looking back and remembering the taste, I guess it was some fine Bulang, but god knows which.

Well, let's not cry over spilt tea, it is still a nice tea and I may write about it sometime soon...and rename the original article to Unknown soldier.

2011 Yunnan Sourcing Purple Yi Wu
You may remember my rather excited notes on the 2010 predecessor of this cake. It is still one of my most favourite teas for frequent drinking. It has its limitations, but the taste is still mighty fine when brewed right. When I want a tea with great mouthfeel and intense energy, I'll take something from older trees, true - but I often enjoy this easy-going lovely tea.

Now I was excited to try a younger sibling of the 2010 version. To make the long tasting short - Scott has done it again :) It is very similar. The 2010 version has aged a bit already so it is darker overall (not necessarily better, just different), the good clean and heavy fruitiness is there again, mingling with the "purple taste". I have little idea how these cakes are going to age (although the progress is promising so far), but if they don't deteriorate, I'm a happy man.

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