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Thanks for the sample!!! Quality material – classic bangdong scents on the dry leaf. First few steeps had a great mix of floral and citrus notes with a rich nutty base tone rounded out by fresh grass. Later brews developed a solid bitterness. dense cooling sensation on the midpalate with a slight effervescent tingle. Medium thickness to the body, lots of lingering notes of sugarcane. Tons of sweetness in the cheeks which caused a lot of salivation. Fresh, decent energy, very good characteristics in the mouth. This definitely has some good healthy old trees in the mix (I wont use the G word ;) but would guess this is a blend of tree ages from 50-200 yr old). a great example of bangdong character, good leaf, and good processing.

Brewed in a zisha pot. Very deep herbal tones. Lighter flavor on the first brew then expected. Second brew- much thicker body, a lot more bitterness. Some florality but mostly herbal with a slight lemon zest tone. Nutty hints. 3&4 brew – decent cooling, decent mouth feel. All around this has been very soft and light on flavor but medium textured with decent finish/mouth characteristics. 5th brew, soft and sweet – good cooling in the back of the throat, nice lingering sweetness, all around soft, sweet, and subtle, nuanced but not exactly what you expect from a spring bang dong cake. All of the usual floral and fruit notes are quite soft. Quality seems to be there, but this is a very soft and round take on bang dong. looking forward to trying it again w/ a heavier leafing and seeing how that goes. however, I enjoyed the more forward and flavorful YS bang dong’s. probably my least favorite bang dong of the 2017 sheng olympics.

Brewed in a zisha at boiling. This tea opened up with lots of tropical fruits on the nose which slowly became an interesting savory herbalness. The brew is a thick golden color. Lots of honey sweetness which sits in the back of the throat and lingers on and on. Nice thickness with a good amount of slickness. Very slurpable. Good tropical fruit flavors with apricot and mango sticking out for me. QI is very energetic, strong, and heady. Lots of huigan on this with a lot of cheek salivation as well. Bitterness starts off non-existant and then slowly creeps in. Very dense, lush, and primal. Jungle like herbal and floral notes float around. One sip and my mouth is filled with floral perfume and never ending notes of honey, this sweetness lingers on and on causing lots of salivation. Cooling sensation is light. Good minerality and a hint of black pepper on the front palate. The qi almost bowled me over for a bit. For the price I’m a big fan of this tea. fresh notes of tropical fruit, lots of florals, jungle like savory herbal notes with lots of huigan and salivating, qi is very strong.

Brewed about 8g in a 120ml zisha.

First brews are full of grass, honey, and some florals – Then the tea starts to take a twist getting a bit drier and woodier. Solid mouth characteristics with a decent lingering aftertaste. Good huigan with a decent amount of cooling. savory herbs on the wet leaf aroma. Qi is energetic, but not a qi bomb for me. At the price this is a good tea, but I’m not crazy for the smooth sweetness that is huang pian. Recommended if you like huang pian.

2017 Sheng olympics
(Slightly stream of consciousness review)

Nice yellow/ amber liquor, great aroma on the wet leaves – pineapple, citrus, mango. Becomes more pollenated flowers and orange as its brewed. Taste is moderate frontal bitterness, good citrus character and some tobacco, light smoke and some decent minerallity. Florality is there but the tone is a bit low. Slight nuttiness, medium/med+ body. Good honey sweetness and cheek salivation after some initial drying. Decent cooling and huigan which appears about 30 seconds after drinking and lingers for 2-3 mins, fills the mouth with a pleasant sweet floral aroma. IPA like, firm bitterness with a lot of citrus and florals. Apricot hints. At 7 brews the tea still has some bitterness and a good sweet finish with decent throat characteristics and huigan. Worth owning a cake, not a mind blowing tea (and the qi is light) but solid and interesting enough.

2017 sheng olympic, underleafed a bit by accident (5.5g/100ml)

This tea is mostly frontal flavor, beyond a firm kuwei most other throat sensations were minimal. Very light huigan and cooling. Sweetness is there but minimal. notes of tobacco, pine, and peppercorn. A good amount of smoke. Light florality here and there. Enjoyable but lacks deeper character. Very much a fall material tea. I think the name and imagery is fitting for the tea though. Would do a higher dose next time, i think the tea would benefit from it.

Dragon ball version from 2017 Sheng Olympics in a 170 ml porcelain pot. Tons of honey and sugarcane sweetness throughout the entire session. one of the sweetest teas I’ve had recently. Lots of tropical/ citrus fruit – lemon zest, orange, mango, pineapple. reminds me of new wave IPAs – specifically with citra and mosaic hops, fresh and juicy. interesting herbal and nut tons come and go. medium texture with an uplifting yet calming qi, good and long lasting huigan, all around nice mouth characteristics for a low astringency/bitterness sheng. If these were available for purchase I would buy more. Considering buying a cake but the price is just a tad steep for 200g.

Brewed this up about a year ago when I recieved for Tea club and remembered it being sweet light and floral. Just drank it last night and boy did it thicken up. Great floral aromas with a mushroomy base. Strong Lincang character to the flavor. Gan and other mouth characteristics are developing nicely. I really like where this tea has come in the past year.

The first time I drank this, maybe two weeks after recieving it, I was completely unimpressed. Drinking this today it’s a totally different tea. Classic yiwu profile at a fraction of the price, the mouth characteristics, cooling, and huigan are all what I expect from yiwu tea. I couldn’t recommend this enough at its price point. I think this is a tasty tea now and will be a tasty tea for the next decade or two.

Not a full review just some notes. I brewed 7 grams of this in my 100ml gaiwan. There is a lot of smoke on the first few brews, with a strong cooling woody/floral note. good balance of sweet and bitterness. Still quite green, with some deeper tobacco and vegetal tones lingering in the shadows of the smoky notes.

This is one of the first puerhs I drank when I first got into puerh in 2010. Back then it was also one of my favorites. Now I can see that it’s not quite the quality I thought it was, but is still very in line with my tastes (smoky/woody).