213 Tasting Notes
Another banger from Yi Chang Hao and Nannuoshan! This one is sold in little 100 g cakes and is about $0.68/g. I would say it is also worth it! Not as phenomenal of an experience as the Gedeng, but still a wonderful tea!
Also very soft from the first steep. No bitterness or astringency at all. Has some cooling mouthfeel like eucalyptus. Medium sweetness. Lasts 16+ infusions.
Keep the great teas coming, YCH!
Flavors: Cooling, Eucalyptus, Fruity, Sweet
OMG I’m in heaven! What is with this puerh?! I guess there’s a reason why Gedeng is one of the famous tea mountains.
I wanted to try some Yi Chang Hao teas given some recommendations from other online teaheads and their relative cheapness for their age when I searched for them. It also gave me an excuse to try Nannuoshan’s teas haha. I was not expecting this quality, so I am very pleasantly surprised!
The leaves of this cake are very well preserved and of decent size. They are predominately a medium to dark brown, but some bear yet some chlorophyll. The brew is not appreciably dark, and resembles the orange of the writing on the wrapper. The lid aroma is quite intense with this one.
The mouthfeel is the striking aspect of this tea. Simply otherworldly from the get-go. The website’s “velvety” description is one of the most insanely accurate tea notes I have read. This mouthfeel makes the tea feel both hot and cold at the same time, but not in the fake cooling sensation of menthol, but more like a velvet blanket coating the roof of your mouth insulating it from the heat that rises from below.
The aftertaste is similarly wild. Normally, hui gan is present in the back of the throat only. That is certainly present here, but it is accompanied by both the aforementioned, numbing, velvet blanket on my collective palates and a saliva-generating sensation across the tongue (and somehow very prominent at the front).
No notable cha qi that I get, though I don’t care about that tbh.
Lasts 20+ infusions.
Is this worth $0.80/g? ABSOLUTELY. Will I buy a cake, though? I have never been more tempted to stab my wallet in the back…
Dry leaf: Leather
Wet leaf: Wood, hay, green apple
Flavors: Wood, hay, sweet, velvet
Flavors: Fruity, Green Apple, Hay, Leather, Soft, Sweet, Wood
Don’t make me want to stab my wallet!
I was considering getting an advent calendar from Nannuoshan on Black Friday, but the Canada Post strike intervened. I might have to try their oolongs if they’re as good as this puerh!
Hahaha sorry to tempt you, ashmanra!
And Leafhopper – I got one of their Tieguanyins to try as well. Was really wanting to try their puerh mostly, but got a couple other samples too!
Very nice sample of this well-aged tea from my first-ever order from Nannuoshan! This one is very sweet from the beginning and only has a touch of bitter in some of the middle infusions.
Strangely enough, the smell is almost absent from the dry leaves. Lasts 18+ infusions.
Tightly compressed cake.
Flavors: Bitter, Camphor, Sweet, Wood
This one is just…okay. Like nothing bad about it per say, but not much in the way of pleasant distinct flavors and fairly disappointing overall. I found it as a free sample from last year that was deep in my tea stash and I hadn’t tried it yet haha.
Harvest: Spring 2023
Varietal: Ben Shan
Location: Daping Village, Anxi, Fujian
Elevation: 1000 m
Flavors: Apricot, Green, Jasmine
Another great choice from Yunomi! This is such a smooth and delicate matcha. Perfect balance of flavors and wonderfully subtle sweetness with intense creaminess.
Harvest: Spring 2024
Cultivar: Samidori
Location: Wazuka, Kyoto
Flavors: Bitter, Creamy, Grass, Sweet, Umami
A very nice Dancong from WO! Will have to try their other Dancongs now. This one is pretty complex and very well-balanced.
No bitterness, astringency, sweetness. Very wet and fairly thin mouthfeel. Longevity is ~8 infusions.
Harvest: April 10, 2024
Location: Caodun Village, Xingcun Town, Wuyishan City
Roast: Medium-light (x2)
Flavors: Floral, Grapefruit, Mineral, Orchid, Stonefruit, Wet Rocks
NOW, THIS, I GET! After trying lots of different yancha to find one I might like, I have finally landed on a winner. I was starting to think there was no hope left.
This one is not a Qi Dan, so not truly a Da Hong Pao. They blended Shui Xian, Rou Gui, Jin Mu Dan, Mei Zhan, and Chun Lan to make this blend. Truly amazing that they could blend this to be so balanced and flavorful.
Mild bitterness, mild sweetness. No astringency. Very thick mouthfeel with long aftertaste. Lasts 8+ infusions. 4 g/60 mL water at 205 F.
This is a perfect fall/early winter tea IMO. I will definitely be buying more from Wuyi Origin. And this was just the free sample they sent! The price is also very reasonable at $0.46/g. At least from my limited experience thus far, WO > OWT for yancha.
Harvest: Spring, 2023, blended and re-roasted in 2024
Roast: Medium x 3
Flavors: Cacao, Coffee, Leather, Roasty, Smoke, Toast, Wheat
Very nice JJM from Wuyi Origin! Think I might like this better than their lapsang. More of a potent flavor.
The aroma is insanely strong of honey. Flavor is definitely not as strong, but still strong enough. Medium sweetness; no bitterness or astringency. Lasts 10+ infusions.
Harvest: April 4, 2024
Cultivar: Fuyun #6
Location: Fen Shui Guang
Flavors: Bread, Brown Sugar, Butterscotch, Fruity, Honey, Malt, Peach, Sweet
Well this one is actually quite nice for yancha. It’s certainly better than the rou gui from OWT. Hard to tell if that is due to the age, or the company. This one also seemed pretty weak in flavor, though. But it was certainly nice and smooth and calming. I did try this right after the lapsang, so perhaps my palate was just off yesterday. Will reserve final judgment until I can try them both again.
Harvest: May 3, 2023
Cultivar: Rou Gui
Roast: Medium x 3
Location: Qingshiyan Garden, Zhengyan Farm, Wuyi National Garden Park
Flavors: Cinnamon, Spices, Sweet
My first tea from my first order from WO. Wanted to give it a try for the fall given how well their style of teas pair with fall weather. This was a very nice lapsang and unsmoked. My primary complaint is how subtle the flavor is. If it were just a bit stronger, this would be a winner for me for sure.
Medium-high sweetness. No astringency or bitterness. Lasts 8-10 infusions.
Harvest: April, 2024
Cultivar: Mixed
Location: Tong Mu Guan
Flavors: Apricot, Bread, Cream, Dried Fruit, Smooth, Sugar, Sweet
This is one of my favourite teas! Out of curiosity, are there any fruity unsmoked lapsangs you like better?
It was definitely nice! I need to try it again to see if my palate was just having a bad day (happens from time to time). If so, then yea I would say this would probably be my favorite lapsang I’ve tried. Otherwise, I really like the one from Verdant Tea.
I didn’t realize Verdant had an unsmoked lapsang! I really need to try their teas out sometime.
I’m slightly obsessed with fruity unsmoked lapsangs. Favourites include the ones from What-Cha, TheTea, and of course, this Wild Lapsang from Wuyi Origin. The lapsangs from Daxue Jiadao are less fruity but still very nice.
Yea they have one here to try: https://verdanttea.com/wild-picked-tongmu-unsmoked-zheng-shan-xiao-zhong-lapsang-souchong-wuyi-black-tea.
I might have to try the one from what cha! Can’t find a site called TheTea. Do you have a link to it?
Also, if you plan on making an order from Verdant, would highly recommend some of their Fei Zi Xiao too :).
