Love Is All You Need 2019 Jingmai Huangpian Raw Puer

Gongfu…ish?

Had this one late this afternoon; first taste of the brick I bought. I steeped it this kind of loose cross between grandpa style and Gongfu; basically I brewed the leaf directly in the teacup but it was a small enough cup and I drank the tea quickly enough that I don’t think it could be called grandpa brewing…

I was reading The Sirens of Titan, which is a book that my manager kindly lent me when I told him I was interested in putting a stronger focus on doing more reading this year outside of the comics and graphic novels I already devote a large amount of time to. I’m about halfway through the book now, and I’m really enjoying it!

In terms of the tea, this is gently astringent with notes of underripe banana, white cherries, and heady florals. Finishes a touch bitter, with a softer moutheel! It’s in love with a lot of the notes I’d expect from a young Jingmai sheng, though I did expect it to be a bit more overly sweet and floral. It’s still very good though.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7MfBtegA0M/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olzw8qi6Ptw

I think, in a way, this is sort of loosely a song meant to be paired with the book too?

Last tea for the day, doing 4 reviews in one day may be my new record. This one is really solid. It did not wow me as much as “Keep Smiling”, but even here it’s hard to find any drawbacks. It’s full bodied, smooth and flavourful with a character that’s oscillating between floral and fruity.

Dry leaves smell sweet and metallic, while once wet, there is a distinctive apple aroma as well as a flowery scent. The liquor tastes sweet and juicy with very little bitterness or astringency. There are notes of fermented fruits, apple, banana, and various florals. The profile is not so far from a Taiwanese mountain oolong. The aftertaste is very fragrant and slightly cooling with flavours of sugarcane, straw, and rapeseed. One of the highlights is the thick and creamy mouthfeel, it really elevates this tea above the average in the $0.1/g category. I also found the cha qi fairly defocusing and disorienting – this tea may not be the best to drink while working, but it’s hard to judge that from one session alone.

made in a new-ish Jianshui Zitao pot dedicated to Huangpian. fruity, sweet, very smooth throughout the steeps. so far, my favorite of the new huangpian’s from bitterleaf this year.