The last of my Sheng sample pack from Verdant tea to be re-tasted, the first infusion of this tea was a delightful balance between sweet and spicy. I was particularly pleased by how the spiciness lingered for half a minute on my tongue, something that I had only ever experienced in the Winter Yabao that came in the sample pack. Regardless, this tea was much better than I remembered, so I’m bumping up my rating a bit. I’m also really excited to see how the next few steepings develop, as the description makes it sound like it’s going to be very interesting.
The second infusion was marked by the decrease in the strwength of the spiciness that was so prominent in the first infusion. It’s still the main flavor, but it’s gotten a bit softer. This is pretty much what I expected, as the interesting flavor development usually starts in the third infusion. Still, this was a very nice cup of tea.
The third infusion saw a drastic reduction in the spiciness of the tea, but everything else is a sort of muddled sweetness. The spiciness is evident in the aftertaste as everything else fades out. It seems that it hasn’t fully developed yet, as I’m certainly not tasting granny smith apples yet.
This is the last infusion, as I’m getting a bit tired of this tea. The spiciness is now a weak aftertaste, and the tea has begun to taste a bit like my Shi Ru (which means its is very sweet and tastes a bit like honey). I wonder if this tea would have been better if I had a gaiwan to brew it in, but that type of speculation isn’t going to get me anywhere. It’s a good tea, but when the spiciness faded the tea became less interesting.
