My first alleged Bing Dao tea from Mr Wilson. I must always thank him for keeping these leaves in good form while in their sample pack. Leaf breakage DOES impact taste.
The first few steeps provide clear indicators of the tea’s alleged origins. It’s thick in the mouth and clear pale gold in the cup. It has good depth, penetrating cooling, sweet hay, bittersweet, sharp florals, sencha, white pine resin, green apple, chardonnay grape skins, pine wood, and a strong mouthfeel.
Serious huigan. Lingering sharp floral and white grape skin notes leave a slight drying in the mouth followed by a salivating effect. Mid steeps get thicker and the bitterness of wild herbs comes to the fore with more intense huigan. After the 9th steep or so, the tea becomes a lot more floral buttery. The sweet grassy aromas become wild flower fragrance and is very present in the empty cup. This is my kind of tea. I think I found a Nan Po Zhai replacement, as it shares many similarities.
The sample is bit dried out, but not overly so and I know my tupperware bin storage will remedy that within a couple of weeks or so.
