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I was bored & ordered some Jasmine tea to try out, I haven’t had any for years, it never used to be my thing & I was dubious how i’d get along with it.

Turns out this one is nice, the jasmine isn’t too heavy & by the 3rd gongfu steep the leaf had opened & the taste & aroma reminds me of a banana flavouring they use for sweets. A bit like banana milkshake. This was the main flavour, stronger than the base still, but I think it was nicely paired up, nothing tasted wrong or off.

By later steeps the aroma faded as well as the base & was left drinking fragrant water.

I think gongfu really is a good way to drink this as you can control the amount of jasmine fragrance a lot easier, compared to a more heavy handed western approach.

Amazing coloured cake, very green yellow, 200g sliced from a larger piece.

Dark yellow tea soup, with a pleasant old/musty aroma, but also this can be bit bready/cakey. I like it, its nice. Has a bit of zing on the tongue which is pleasant, although not super long lasting huigan or anything.

There is sweetness & a bit of a bready taste, its a bit like cake water, with a slight sweet raisin viscous body. This is also a bit of an old-book-taste, depending on how you look at it.

A slight bit of citrus, maayyyybe? anyway, at the 4th steep & there is still a mini-zing in the mouth & sweetness. its slightly herbal, perhaps a bit of floral.

i’m still pretty new to these types of heicha so i’m gongfu brewing – I think this one can take a bit more punishment than i’m currently giving it, so I’m going to have to keep practising with getting the right parameters for fullest flavour. Certainly there wasnt anything offputting at all with this one, but i’m going to come back after a while with a score as currently i’m still seeing what works best

Another oily Bana sheng that connects with my tongue the same way concentrated flavours in gummy sweets do. Vibrant feel on the tongue, yummy aroma from the leaf, slightly bitter taste.

Generally the session tasted to me inbetween the Red Label & the Mensung. I found the barky sharp tastes of the Red Label present, they do dominate the middle steeps.

I must admit following their steeping instructions for the last two spu’erh essions has produced really strong tea, & while I have been enjoying them I do feel i preferred the slightly-less-severe method of 5/10/10/20/30/40/1/2/…. rather than flying in with 10 or 15 seconds & ending up on 40 seconds by the 4th steep is probably more up my alley.

I’m still not quite 10th level sheng master even though im hanging with them here, it seems :)

so I have been taking it back a bit & not doing hefty steeps & finding this is where my tongue gets the right amount of stimulus.. then I find the slight brown sugar vibrancy comes back on the tongue rather than dominated by bitterness.

Its a little sugary, a little grassy & leafy, a little fruity, a little vibrant, a little woody, a little bittersweet, a little menthol huigan, medium thickness. I definitely think it could do with a bit more ageing as maybe its in the ‘limbo period’ where it doesnt know quite where its at – i’m no means an expert on this though. It has a bit of some kind of storage flavour but nothing overpowering.

so I follow the exact instructions on the website, as I only have the one sample & trust Bana.

15 second 1st brew. Kapow. Deep almost smoked-stonefruit, spice & honey front which curves round to a bitter finish. Almost tastes a bit aged already, i looked at the soup & its a murky orange in my cup. Instantly energising, although i’m not used to the strength of a 15 second first steep – I wander off & start reading about 1950s red label puerh when I should be doing other things.

2nd steep, couldnt place the flavours but there is honey & bitterness wrapped up into one big bold flavour, zingy on the tongue. Slightly woody sharpness in the huigan.

Then the session got lighter in colour, and took on a bittersweet character. It tasted less leafy green & more like a varnished wood or the inner wood of a tree under the bark.

This flavour developed into a pretty sharp bitterness in the later steeps.

I loved the boldness of this tea, even if its for more bitter-loving or experienced puerh heads. The Bana sampler pack is a really nice one, totally recommended with a lovely range of interesting sheng for a decent price.

Lovely aged white leaves. Gave it a rinse, had a whiff. Porridge! yummy oats & milk fly up my nose from the gaiwan. Then a sharp apricot aroma hit… lovely smell. After a ten minute wait the sharpness has a freshness/menthol alongside it. its cool apricots. YUM.

I dont usually gaiwan my whites but i’m following the guide for this one.

First taste, subtle. nice aroma up into my head, this apricot turning into medicinal. Lightly floral as well.

Second & the aroma is more deeper & sweet, cotton candy thing. The taste is deeper, pretty lush, sweet & hay-like but not the same as a fresh white. Evolved & heavier. Its lovely. Ever-so-slightly spicy like a Dongfang Meiren but just in the background. Dates is a good description.

Third is another deep sweet taste. Nice feel in the mouth, silky & slight tingle, with a sweet-sharp edging. I could glug a cup of this tea western style so easily, as it feels so nice in the mouth, but gongfu has been an interesting way to experience the flavours. Bit more of a date flavour, along with the evolved white peony florals & hay, actually this hay is more like the inside of a hay bale on a hot day. And ‘hot hay’ is listed here, so there you go!

Later steeps fall back to something more akin to normal white peony tea, but with a sour note coming from the leaf being steeped out. Still enjoyable, still nicely interesting, still smooth, still deep.

I do love the more complex, deeper whites. This one didnt disappoint at all.

Is there any way to unsee flavours? This one is listed as talcum powder scented… If I hadnt read that I might taste it slightly drying, bitter & perfumed but now, omg. TALCUM POWDER. help..

it took the first few steeps & some self-NLP to remove that idea from my mind. It doesnt really taste of it, but there is a slight drying effect & thin-but-sharp bitterness that does create that aftertaste.

Slight fruit, Dark dry bitter mouth coating, which now tastes like talcum powder again. Dark leaf sheng flavour throughout the steeps (of which I do like the character).

But yeah, if you like dry bitter character you might love this one, but for me I couldnt stop thinking of getting ol’ TC in my mouth. Unsure if I should recommend this or not, as it does taste like how its described, just not the right tea for my buds.