Yiwu Snake Blend 2013 Spring

Wildflower meadow dry leaf. The heated leaf smelled like a warm, rich spice bread studded with dried sour cherries and drizzled with a thinned caramel. There was also a cleanliness to that aroma. Rinsed leaf smells like antique wood and aged florals.

Let’s talk about the mouthfeel first. Amazing! Thicker than oil — very pectic. Silky smooth, lubricated the whole mouth. Cooling, only lightly drying. Later developed an acidic-enzymatic feeling like unripe pineapple but still managed to retain that special thick body until I called it quits. The longevity of this tea is impressive. I steeped it over the course of 3 days. The only other sheng that I’ve had such accomplished longevity with was Last Thoughts.

This tea is exceptionally clean. I remember it being sweet but didn’t note it as such; more an impression of sweetness. Light caramel-brown sugar flavor, custard-ish, dry grass, green grape skin, high mineral content turned into a bright-toned brew like apricot and the same unripe pineapple that influenced the mouthfeel. Trace bitterness. The second day, this tea was a fantastic cleansing accompaniment to homemade cardamom-heavy pumpkin pie. Fast-moving tannins. I didn’t notice a returning sweetness until this day. The third day, the leaf steeped out still viscous and cooling with lingering fruity and floral flavors.

In terms of body feel and effects, I became very warm and comfortable with the second steep. My vision developed an orange hue, which sometimes happens to me with shou. By the third steep, a spicy burn developed in my ears and the cooling mouthfeel exposed itself as eucalyptus-like in my chest. With the fourth steep, I was so lost in the way this tea was effecting my perception. Get ready for woowoo. I felt menthol in my spine, moving up and sitting in my cerebellum before creeping up and and spreading across the crown of my head, like the unfolded lotus representation of the crown chakra. I lost sense of time in a most natural way. Nothing about this tea made me uncomfortable. It was like a mother’s love as she cradles her babe. Sleep came easily. (Results may vary!)

This was a delight of a sheng and one that relies heavily on mouthfeel. While the tea lacks a bit in the aftertaste and also in some grounding tones, it never takes off too high either. If you want to explore just how naturally thick and smooth a teenage sheng can be, I’d highly recommend getting a sample. The price is right. I have no idea how something like this would age, but it seems to be doing just fine in my 2 years of storage. Tea Urchin has fantastic teas and sadly they don’t seem to get much recognition around here.

This is really an excellent Yiwu blend. Definitely delivers the quality I’ve come to expect from Tea Urchin. Thick and pretty leaves with an enticingly sweet aroma before water even touched them.

Like most good Yiwu I have had, the flavors of this were sweet and reminiscent of pastry/dessert. Cakey is how I would describe a lot of the really nice Yiwu teas I’ve tried, including this one. Creamy, vanilla, sometimes creme brulee or custard sort of notes. Also a lot of floral notes to it as well – later steeps become more intensely floral, bordering on soapy without getting unpleasant at all. There is a slight bitterness to the tea reminding you that you are in fact sipping a young sheng. The texture is very thick and leaves you wanting more after each sip. Qi is relaxing.

An excellent few sessions from this sample has me wanting a full cake. I think it would be good for many years, judging by other Yiwu cakes I have. I think Tea Urchin may be the source of my next Doomcart!!

This is the pinnacle of sweet puerh. I’ve tasted a few that blend well into the “dessert” category, but this tea wins the game with longevity, qi, and thickness. The leaves are slightly darkened and loosely compressed. They give off a nice aroma of strong wood, subtle honey, and spicy musk in the background. I warmed up my pot and placed some inside. The becomes much stronger with a good heavy musk of fruits, tobacco, and cherry. A few sweeter notes of brown sugar and vanilla bean rise to the surface after a few sniffs. I washed the leaves and prepared for brewing. The taste is strong, full, and direct. I experience of whirl of flavors. The brew begins with a layer of resonated sugarcane, oak wood, and a crisp base of wildflowers. The next steep yields maple brown sugar, molasses, and a smooth honey aftertaste. A flourish of marshmallow rises from the tongue on the exhale. After that, I am greeted with a full bodied cedar taste that is wrapped in these same desert tones. The brew is potent. The soup continues darkened and filled with great flavors and tones that are mostly sweet and incredibly syrupy. The qi begins very aggressive and unstable, but it soothes out if you ease the session on. The sensation balances out to full body hum with powerful yet smooth waves. The feeling compliments the last steep which yields subtle floral qualities and sugar water. This is a tea I couldn’t drink fast enough. I really enjoy it, and it is one of my favorites. This is great example of the feminine qualities in yiwu tea. I don’t always reach for something sweet, but this makes a good desert tea, and its an instant crowd pleaser.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJF1sZEAmqG/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

I think this tea is really high in tea quality. The combination of sour and smoky flavors really does make this tea taste like a sugar cookie.

I don’t think I would order it again, mainly because I’m not a fan of the weird mix of tasting notes. However, it is really high quality and the leaf looks like it was just harvested yesterday.

You can look at the full review on my blog…

http://coolcodyc.wix.com/theoolongdrunk#!2013-Yiwu-Snake-Blend/c21kp/574cd6e10cf22d4faddc14b3

Thank you Mr Mopar for this sample. This was an excellent tea. It was a punchy and bitter tea though. Bitter in a good way if you know what I mean. I steeped this tea twelve times and stopped because I had had a lot of caffeine. But I think it would have kept going for a lot more steeps. I think this tea is definitely worth buying. If I ever get around to buying from Tea Urchin it will go to the top of my list. This was good tea. There was a sweet note behind the bitterness too. A very complex tea in nature. You might call that note apricots, not completely sure.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.9g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

This was an interesting one. I dont have any experience with sheng blends. It wasnt bitter like a straight raw that I am used to, more like an oolong. Creamy taste, and the bitterness when even a second or so too much was more in line with dan cong oil bitter, rather than fresh leaf sharp bitter.

It tasted muted, not like there is no flavour, more like if you messed up a landscape oil painting, you would get dull greens and browns, rather than the lively bright greens and distinctive sharper flavours of sheng I am usually drinking.

cha qi is nice as well. I am relaxed and dont feel my heart racing a lot. I like this tea!

Yes to the cream notes. I didnt seem to get as much honey as has been described, my opinion is its also a bit.. doughy? like bread mix? cookie mix? a little nutty in there as well. deep slightly bitter leafy Leafy taste, for sure, this flavour is sitting on my tongue. Olive oil? not really but its a bit like this, a hard one to place.

An interesting tea, this has spurred me on to try more blends out. I am thinking something was blended to make the tea less lively? Its a subject I need to look into, anyway.

Thanks for the sample Rui! :)

edit* changed score because I really like this one. Cant stop thinking about it now :)

Crème brûlée on wheels (leaves)

Starting from the tea leaves aroma, either when dry or after a flash rinse, of orchids or even wild flowers to the smoothness, burnt sugar caramel like taste and medium to high density of its liquor there is no end to positive adjectives I could add to describe this beautiful looking tea. One of the best young YiWu raw pu’er teas I have sipped.