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spring 2007 2007 Xi-Zhi Hao * Huang Shan Lin Wild Arbor Pu-erh 400g | ||
| Genre: Compressed Sheng/Green/Uncooked/Raw | ||
| Factory: xi-izhi hao | ||
| Vendor: Yunnan Sourcing LLC | ||
| Reviewed by Zachary Alexander Brown on 07/10/2008 | ||
| Background | "This cake is composed of wild arbor material taken from Meng Hai Da Huang Ya (勐海大黄芽) in the south part of Menghai County. The name "Huang Shan Lin" means Desolate Forest. The raw material for these cakes comes from just this small area. A single-estate wild arbor cake that was stone-pressed. Packaging design by Mr. Chen himself! Production area: Meng Hai Da Huang Ya Other Comments: Unblended Pu-erh from Ancient Trees. San He Tang Company Production - (Pressed and packaged in the Mengyang Guoyan Tea factory in Jinghong)" | |
| Dry Leaf Appearence: | the cake almost has a blue hue with white accents, but look closer to see that it is actually green. an occasional redish purple leaf can be seen, and huge whitish green leaves streek across the surface. it has a very vibrant color. very impressive looking. | |
| Water to Leaf Ratio: | 1 gr of Leaf in 1 ml of water | |
| Brewing Method: | 1 1/2 to 2 wooden teavana teaspoons placed in a small to average sized yixing. 3 breaths each brew untill the end, and then i just wing it. the pot brews aprox. 6 oz of tea | |
| Wet Leaf Appearence: | huge leaves, with some red color too them, and huge sticks. some smaller leaves as well, all with a nice searated edge. it looks like a good spent green tea, or oolong. | |
| 1st Steep | toss | |
| 2nd Steep | a very nice almost grassy like taste, remeniscent of a green tea, but with a strong pu erh presence underneath.this tea has a very light and fluffy feel to it. strong flavor with a light quality about it. i'm feeling a greenish blue from this tea. if i could name it, i would call it rolling cloud tea. | |
| 3rd Steep | same as above, but now the grassyness has left. more mellow than the previous steep, and also a bit thicker. the lightest pungent taste echoes through this steep, which adds to the quality of the tea. this steep offers a complex array of flavors all at once, but are each distinguishable, a melony sweetness, a pungent tangyness, a mellow smootheness, and the lightest grassy tinge, almost gone now. | |
| 4th Steep | the mellony sweetness rules this steep. this tea offers a brilliant mouth feel the whole way through, but is most evident now in this steep. as i drink further into this infusion, the pungentness is also prevailant. a less complex, more bold version of the previous steep. | |
| Subsequent Steeps | just like steep 4, but more elaborate and a bit lighter. unlike alot of other teas, this does not mellow out and get "sweeter." instead, it plays a game of "let's see how close to unpleasant i can get wile still somehow tasting good." no matter how close it gets, the mouth feel is still good, the after taste is pleasent, and i still want to drink more of it, which is of course my #1 requirement for a tea to be considered a "Good" tea, imo. ( an example of the opposite of that is the dr. wiel canned iced gyokoro, which is abominable.) | |
| Conclusion | this is a very elegant and sophisticated tea. i can see this becoming ruthelessly delicious after a few years of proper aging. this offers a lighter, greenish blue-er, cooler airy headyness that i'm guessing is not very common amoung teas. yet the potential to dissapoint is very prevailant here. i'm drinking this tea again and again for it's soothing coolness dispite being a hot beverage, and it's grassy complexity, and what it gives off. the flavor is secondary to what i'm getting from the tea, especially after the 3rd steep. it becomes a bit unpleasent after a wile, and if i gave someone a cup from the 5th or 6th steep they would probably think i'm mad for having invested so much time and money into "this tea thing." probably not the best tea for a first time drinker, much the way a ferrari or lotus is not the best car for a beginning driver. even the really old ones that don't go that fast and arn't that dangerous by today's standards. but like a ferrari or lotus, to a seasoned enthusiest, there's no substitute for the real thing. | |
| Sorry, no Photos | ||