It’s taken nearly a year, but I think my little purple clay teapot is finally starting to give back flavor. And that presents a real dilemma sometimes when it comes to rating teas. This was one of those situations where the gaiwan and clay teapot resulted in two very different tasting teas.
The dry leaves are large and dark green with a green apple and orchid aroma. When wet, they emit fruity cucumber-melon and vegetal, slightly herbaceous aromas. The tea starts off fruity, some green apple sourness initially along with little floral hints in the background. This is where the gaiwan brewed tea stops and the other begins. In the tea brewed in clay, the depth of flavor is far greater. I detected notes of narcissus, hyacinth, egg custard, and pineapple in the finish. As it continues steeping, it gains thickness in the body and develops a sweet floral-fruity flavor. There’s a slight funk in the smell of the steeped leaves that thankfully doesn’t make it into the tea.
The main difference that I can tell between the porcelain and clay brewed teas seems to be the clay teapot did a good job of minimizing the sourness that cropped up here and there and amplified the flowery notes. The gaiwan brewed tea was a good, serviceable gao shan but nothing memorable and far from the better Li Shans I’ve had such as the recent one from What-Cha.
Flavors: Custard, Flowers, Green Apple, Melon, Narcissus, Sour
