2014 54-46 Raw

NOTE This is based of an old sample so I won’t do a regular note for it

I liked this tea back when I bought it, but god it has come along really well.

The tea has an underlying vegetal note when dry with a little bit of sweetness. As soon as you introduce humidity you get an intense scent of maple (that chocolatey/caramel spectrum of maple) and some vegetal that resembles olive oil and this evolves into a more floral version of it as you keep steeping.

The taste is very similar to the scent, perhaps less vegetal in taste than the scent and you get a lot of that oily sensation together with the vegetal note that reminds me of olive oil, but the taste play between that savory note and that rich sweetness. The taste follow the trait of the scent, evolving into a floral version with each steep.

I can’t say that I recall how it tasted when I first tried it, but I have to say that it is thicker than I remembered.

Someone inspired me to pick some of this, and I decided to break it out. I can’t believe I am the first to review a tea from 14’.

The cake has some massive maocha that is loosely compressed. The leaves are light subtle colors of white, gold, platinum, and some autumn browns. This array of colors give off a nice dry grass, slight fruit, and a whiff of tang aromas. I carefully stuffed my warmed yixing full of these beautiful leaves. The warmed scent was very unique. I opened the lid and was greeted by a thick warm almost creamy scent. I was picking up nectar, honey, dew, and it was all wrapped up so syrupy it was almost milky. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The leaves became rugged and vegetal with tones of spinach, wet wood, grass, and juicy pear. The taste was a sharp clean flavor. First, I tasted greens and a vegetal tone. The flavor was so fresh and uplifting. This oddly reminded me of mountain air, and I’m unsure what that means, haha. The flavor progressed to keep clean green tastes, but I also picked up some astringency and a pleasant drying sensation. My throat was picking up a nice sweet huigan that was like thick nectar. The third and fourth steep yielded some peppery kuwei, and the huigan built up to a thickly sweet and smooth feeling. The really interesting part about this tea is the drying sensation. The fifth and further steepings gave an intense dry mouth. I was picking up such a variety of tones. I had cotton mouth, a thick lasting huigan, and a pinchy kuwei that kept prodding at my tongue. The drying sensation had a subtle pine wood taste. This was a refreshing and clean brew. The qi was odd, and body encompassing. It felt like a tonic for my body. I felt wiped clean and without any restraints. It was such a a strange yet good feeling. I felt like I had just experienced a cleanse honestly, hahah. I really like this tea. I have tasted more intense flavors in brews, but this is a great steady brew. This drink carries the drinker and slowly steers them throughout the session. I’m glad I have more of this, and I’m really happy this hidden gem was brought to my attention.

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