Long Live The Queen 2019 Yiwu Raw Puer

This is what one could call a classic Yiwu tea. It has the floral sweetness and a nice soft texture. It is fairly consistent throughout the session but also not that complex you could say.

The wet leaf aroma is floral, a bit grassy and it includes notes of bay leaf, compost, thyme and a light smokiness. Taste is well integrated with next to no distinctive flavours. It is sweet, floral, and very fragrant with hints of nutty oil flavour. The liquor has medium to full body with some astringency and it induces a cooling feeling in the mouth. What follows is a very nice huigan and a warm sensation spreading throughout the body.

Gongfu!

Nabbed this one in the sheng sampler BLT put out earlier this year; however I likely would have picked up a sample even if it wasn’t in that sampler. I’ve been on a MAJOR yiwu kick this year, and while I think there’s generally a profile associated with Yiwu sheng that I know and love – sometimes a tea will have different characteristics that my golden Yiwu standard, but I’m developing an appreciation for them as well.

That describes this tea pretty well – it’s a bit greener and slightly more bitter than what I usually love about Yiwu (sweet, syrupy, tangy fruit…) but it’s still really good, and that fruitiness is there, you just have to look a little harder and push through a couple more bitter steeps. Ultimately, this is a beautiful tea with a great huigan that settles into something very enjoyable and smooth. I brewed out the session, and immediately afterwards I just felt this sadness about only having a sample of the tea and not a full cake of it…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B2K8hRLp0yY/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNoafUU4Ikw