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I prefer this tea to the Yiwu of the 2016 Year of the Monkey.

The tea is nice and long with sweet floral and grassy high notes. I am noticing that most of bitterleaf teas smell alike with the perfume-y thick sweet scent with nectar. I warmed my pot up and tossed some inside. The scent opens further into warm maple syrup and fruity tones with some light florals. I washed the tea and prepared for brewing. The tea is sweet and smooth with a grassy/veggie base along with a delayed huigan. The brew goes down quickly and smoothly with some bitter in the back. This tea is pretty decent, and I feel it fits its price quite well. The tea is nothing extreme or dramatic, but its a good no fuss sheng. The tea is light, but it carries some buzzing tones that follow around my body.

Also, this tea does superb grandpa style. I often brings this to the office and just throw some in a mug and sip at it.

First to review!

I really enjoy rolled puerh, for they are perfect for when I am traveling. I can fit them in my teaware pouch and just pop them into the pot. This rolled ball is very very dark leaf and gives off scent of sharp greens like bok choy, kale, and some sweet wood. I warmed my pot up and rolled the planet inside. The scents opens into some off metallic (iron) scent with the same greens. bitters, and roasted asparagus. I washed the ball twice and prepared for brewing. The taste begins sweet and green with green bean notes. I can note some huigan that is delayed, but it sits nicely and lightly in the back of the throat. The grassy tones give a warming feeling on my forehead, and I can note a faint amount of smoke in the background of my brew. The brew continues in the fashion. The later steeps give a slight lemongrass bite. This tea does lack complexity, thickness, yada yada yada, but its inexpensive and rolled, so you can’t complain too much. The qi is nice and gives me a good spatial feeling.

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I have an odd memory of strongly disliking this tea, so I have left this sample lingering for quite some. However, today I decided to give it another go, and I am very glad that I did. This is a surprisingly decent aged oolong. The rolled leaves are slightly darkened with notes of rich honey, raisin, dry grass, and plum, with an undertone of burnt sugar resin. I warmed my gaiwan and dumped the pebbles in. The scent opens into some roast with plum, tobacco, and fruity but dry aroma. I washed the leaves once and started steeping. The taste begins with a fantastic flourish! A strong smooth note of graham cracker, crystal sugar, with the fruity tones of apricot and pear. The brew is thick and lasting with a wonderful plum aftertaste. I really enjoyed that first cup. However, the brew progressively gets woodier and darker with each steep. The second steep is an in between state of fruity sweetness and woody dryness. The third steep is nothing special. This is what I call I one steep wonder, but it was pretty wonderful. With this tea, I recommend high temperature and longer steep time, for the roasted rolled balls need time to open and thicken the soup. The qi is a bit odd, for I can only sense a lot of head compression. I enjoyed the first taste of this tea, and I wish it would have lasted.

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This leaf has an intoxicating fragrance. First, some freshly plucked lilies, then its fresh greens, dried apricot, and orange zest, lastly, its hot hay as a base. I poured my handful into the pot and prepared to brew. The steeped leaf is strong with wood and musk with a sweet floral character. The mix comes out smelling like ginger beer. The taste is sweet and soft with light floral tones and rock sugar. A woody base balances the light tones out; however, I note a viscous grassy undertone that creates a roasted green and burnt sugar aftertaste. The tea is moderate, and I believe this leaf smells so much better than it tastes.

This is the 2016 harvest.

The leaves give off a nice light citrus scent along with a base of corn husk, sweet potato, and candied mango. I can also hint at very light notes of tamarind, papaya, and some floral. I placed a fair amount inside and began steeping. The taste begins strong with papaya and this descends into a chestnut tone towards the base of the tongue. The brew moves with smooth watercress tastes. This brew is fruity and bold with a sweet, tangy, orange (somewhat) aftertaste. However, I would learn more towards grapefruit due to its acidity. The drink is smooth and lasting with a nice green nutty base along with brief astringency towards the end of each sip. I liked it, and I thought it to be decent.

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This is the 2016 orb edition:

This is my shortest note, and I was not impressed by this tea at all.

Dry: Nothing
Warm: Wet wood, grass
Steeped: Bitter, Kale
Taste: Bitter and grass, not good. I didn’t make it too far in the session.

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I see a ton of mixed reviews for this tea, and they are either I love it or its bad. So, that means that this tea is not bad; it is just a preference taste tea. I mean that this is either up your alley, or “it isn’t your cup of tea”. For me, I am of the later group. So, I will list my experience, and if you are in tune with my tastes you will agree; if you are not, then you will most likely love this tea. The mandarin is pretty cool looking, and it breaks easily apart. The leaves smell citrus-y (duh) with some musk about it. I keep sniffing at it, and I get an image of a golf course for some reason (don’t know if that means anything). I warmed up my gaiwan and scooped some inside. The aroma opens up into an intense citrus aroma along with some musk and rain. This is a very jungle-y aroma (my vocab is killin it today). I washed the leaves and prepared to steep away. The taste is sweet with citrus and musk. By sweet, I mean that sort of plastic sugar sweet. By citrus, I mean some sort of cleaner. By musk, I mean jungle/gym (hahah, jungle gym). So, in conclusion I have a semi thick shu tea that tastes like a gym class floor being cleaned with pine sol. I It’s safe to say that this was not my thing, but if you are of the other group then you most certainty will enjoy this tea.

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I did a side-by-side tasting of this and Puerhsk Xiaoshu Lincang.

The leaves here are a bit darker than the regular lincang, and they have the same fresh floral, but I also pickup some brown sugar and molasses. This tea is alike the regular Lincang, but it doesn’t have a background of roast. I warmed up my shibo and threw this in. The scent opens into a sharp roast, mesquite, smoke, and some briquette. However, this type of roasting is different than the previous regular lincang. I would compare these alike a store bought pre-cooked rack of ribs ( reg. lincang) vs. a cookout style summer time self-smoked rack of ribs (gushu lincang). The later is less artificial. I washed the leaves and commenced the brewing. The brew begins sweet and smooth with a bit of smoke in the aftertaste. However, the tea continues to grow even more smoky and even more astringent. The tea is not that great, and it is a very “eh” tea to me. I did not finish my session.

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I did a side-by-side tasting with this and Puerhsk Gushu Lincang.

The leaves are lightly covered with little hairs all over. The scent is still fresh with some nice floral characters as well as light butter cream and background of roast. I warmed up my shibo and placed this inside. The warmed leaf exploded with intense roast aromas along with some charcoal, meaty, and roasted veggie tones. I could also pick up a campfire scent. These are not good signs for me. I washed the leaves and prepared for brewing. The taste has tons of roast, and it is slightly bitter. I could pick a little bit of sweetness, but it was mostly a bbq tea. I push on through in hopes these “smoke-like” tones would fade, but I was soon greeted with a sour note a like a pickle. I have better hopes for this teas gushu counter-part.

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This was surprisingly decent. I have not a huge fan of zhongcha unless It has a fairly decent amount of age on it. Now, a 100g zhongcha is a little bit of question mark to me, but I decided to give it a go. The leaves are actually fairly loosely compressed and the give off a firm hay scent along with some wafting of light grape, tobacco, and grass, but it is mostly hay notes. I warmed my shibo up and threw it inside. The brick shavings gave off a strong raisin scent along with graham cracker, cedar, and more hay. I washed the leaves twice and prepared for brewing. The taste is fair with heavy wood as a base and sweet white grape skins on top. A nice lingering sweetness stays in the mouth, but this feeling passes very quickly. The kuwei is peppercorn, but it too is very quick. This brick has the typical tangy lbz quality in the background. The taste is slightly sweet with some very faint smoke and a light acidity. It’s hard to describe, but you know when you taste it. The sweetness and tannins continue to fade in and out with fruit punch flavors arising as well as some pepper. The tea is decent, but I wouldn’t call it great. The hugan keeps giving up too soon, and the flavors fade quickly. However, the energy is on point. The sensation begins right away with head spacing, ears ringing, some floatiness, and a great spatial vibe. I sipped on this as I conversed with a close friend, and this tea did well in fueling my ideas. I love conversation tea. A conversation tea is one that is enjoyable to sip at and the qi just jump starts your tongue. Your words move smoother and carry more depth; its a fantastic experience. I am debating on getting more, for the price is a little awkward for such a small amount, but the qi just might make this worth it.

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