Meng Ding Huang Ya

This is a great yellow tea. It is bold and complex, very buttery and it develops some quiet peppery notes during additional steeping. The infusion is perfectly clear and intensely yellow.

[Spring 2021 harvest]

I was excited to try a sample of this tea, expecting something different, at least. When dry, it smells of nuts, meat and chard. On the other hand, wet leaves have a very distinctive cabbage aroma.

First infusion is quite savoury and nutty with a mild bitter bite and honey sweetness. The flavours have a a good depth and the mouthfeel is very velvety with no astringency. The protracted aftertaste starts off juicy, buttery and warming, eventually a bit of vegetal sweetness appears from the bitterness though.

Subsequent steeps are pungent, vegetal and floral (still like honey, but without the honey sweetness) with a hint of spiciness and some astringency appearing too.

I don’t know if I’ve ever had any tea that you could say is truly a “yellow tea”. It’s certain is that this one is unlike any other tea I’ve had. It’s a bit hard to describe in what way though. Most of the specific aspects can be found in other teas, but the manner in which they come together is certainly unique. Also, the strong cabbage aroma is quite memorable.

Beginning to wonder if the string of bad tea experiences I had today relates more to the fact I had a really bad/depressing day in general and less to the quality of the tea itself, ’cause even my Gong Fu session of this tea (one I usually adore) was less than satisfactory and just fell really, really flat…

Which is a shame because I pulled it out in the first place to brighten my mood and redeem the more lousy cuppas I’ve been having today.

Another I removed from the Lewis & Clark teabox as there was one serving left. I tried to steep this tea like the other yellow tea I tried before, though the leaves look different. These kind of look like sencha leaves, wide and flat, but the color is a dustier muted light grey. There ended up being two teaspoons of leaves here which I used the last time for the yellow tea anyway. The dry leaves certainly have a nutty aroma!

Steep #1 // 20 min after boiling // 2 min steep
This one is much different from the other yellow tea that was entirely lemon (like a lemon dusted cake or something). This one is mostly like a mao feng type green tea, nutty creamed corn flavor but there are hints of the faintest lemon in the aftertaste. The tea does leave my mouth a little dry, but it’s an okay flavor. Maybe not as nice as a green tea and certainly not as nice as the other yellow tea I tried (maybe because it was so different).

Steep #2 // 20 min a.b. // 2-3 min
This cup wasn’t as good. A little bitey. It’s odd when I find second steeps of white teas are amazing but second steeps of yellow teas (at least the two I’ve tried) haven’t been memorable. Of course, I could be steeping them incorrectly.

L&CTTB

interesting.

sort of roasty and nutty. somewhat sweet. kind of creamy taste to it.

After I had it western style, I saw that people did this in a gaiwan gongfu and I bet that would be great. Ah well.

Hazelnut, butter, vanilla and a slight herbal taste…this is a wonderful tea. One to be steeped in a Gaiwan starting at 30 seconds and then to be enjoyed over and over again in multiple steeps. A delightful tea for a time of pondering…best straight and on its own.

The directions on the bag said 5 mins?! I listened, and wow I knew that was way too long. It’s become a bitter bitter and astringent. Theres also a nutty quality. Also some vegetal and roasted smell. I know see the gaiwan method, and will use the last of my sample on trying that method.