What? I never did a 2015 review. Bad, bad on me. I had so much fun sharing the previous incarnation of this with everyone I know… and my green tea loving sister loved it… it was the only sheng she actually liked… and I tried a lot of fancy teas on her, including a few high end w2t club ones. I am pretty sure my family is biased Kunlu, it’s also dad’s favorite shou.
Kunlu gushu tastes like the wild. Instantly transporting to a forest in the middle of nowhere.
So the kunlu sheng is much less pineappley than the younger trees… but has this really great wild after taste lovers of the 2015 version will instantly recognize. The wildness that evolves and changes as the tea matures.
I will update this after I try the cake version, as well as do a side by side comparison with the 2015 (please remind me, I have one more maocha sample session left and half a cake coming) but wanted to share some initial impressions with people before these went on sale. Because they went fast last year.
So if you tried a sample last year and loved it, the good news is… you are getting a tea with very much the same character as last year. The second time I tried it I was able to confirm this.
What is different?
The aroma. Goodness! This year has aroma in spades. Like I had a small sample of this with some jian shui cups come in the mail last month… and as soon as I stepped out of my car, about 10 foot for the door step, I was all kunlu? o.O? At around 3 feet, everything still sealed was Kunlu! o.O it is delightfully pungent. I’m not sure if this is because it is maocha rather than a cake, or this year is just super pungent.
Also, beneath its still upfront wildness, there is a bit more of a fruity note than I detected last year. Almost a pear.
Also… longetivity… this baby goes on forever and ever until you are done with foresty tastes and decide to grandpa it. I don’t think I’ve ever found Kunlu’s end by gongfu alone…
I need to session more with this to find subtle differences… and how diff notes aged out… but more or less, if last year’s was your jam, chances are you will love this one too. It is a worthy sequel.
