Spring 2019 Harvest
(This is the general excerpt from my tea blog, which includes photos of each steep https://jadeoolong.blogspot.com/2021/02/comparing-tea-to-itself-wild-tree.html)
NOTE: I also wrote a log for the 2012 Harvest two years ago.
Brew info: 6.13 grams of tea | 100 ml water | Porcelain gaiwan | Gong fu style (see steep information below)
Leaf Aroma:
*The high notes of the wet leaves are sweet, but slightly sour
*The low notes from the wet leaves are of light smoke and cacao powder
*The leaves open somewhat quickly. They seem to open up 7-10% with each steep. I think this tea will go on for a while.
Tea Broth / Soup:
*The color of the tea soup is a lovely orange amber
*There is hardly any astringency at all. I suspect this will be a very forgiving tea with regards to water temperature.
The flavor starts off with a mild sourness followed by a sweetness and sugary aftertaste. It’s fairly well balanced with no flavor overpowering the other. It has a fairly medium finish with a tongue juiciness that lingers with sugar crystals.The sourness is not as dominating, as Laoshan Red teas. It’s just a nice balance of sweet & sour.
I don’t detect the more fruity notes from my 2012 tasting, which could be just the harvest year or my looking at tea differently.
Brewing specs by steep:
1.200F @ 20s 2. 200F @ 30s 3. 195F @ 40s — I wanted to see if the sourness/tang might be reduced with a lower temperature, but it didn’t really. 4. 200 F @ 40s — still going fairly strong. The color of the soup hasn’t changed much since the first, but I can tell it’s just starting to drop. I figure I can go a decently long time with this tea as the leaves are not yet fully open. (5+ Steeps) Flavors are diminishing very slowly over time, as is the color of the soup. The tang is also dropping, but the slight sweet is still there. Still keeping itself balanced.Flavors: Cocoa, Pleasantly Sour, Sugar
Nice to see you back. I enjoyed perusing your blog. The layout and your cadence are calming.
Thanks you. I’m trying to get back into documenting tastings. I’ve a backlog, so hopefully, I’ll get through them, while adding new ones.