2017 Yun Tai Mountain "Sentinel Mountain" Fu Zhuan Brick Tea

A tea I have received from derk, thank you!

Decided for gongfu, as again, I haven’t done it for long; and I had mood for that today. And what to brew? Why not something absolutely new in my stash?

When I took the sniff from the pouch, I thought it is some kind of lapsang, as it is smoked tea. And then some mushroomy aroma appeared. It is pu-erh? As it is quite cold today here; I decided to go through and preapare it. I saw lots of small branches and and it freaked me a little. I thought it will be boring; or not so great at all.

Boy, I was wrong!

I preheated the gaiwan and added dry tea in. That release of the aromas brought me again to the birch covered sauna 5 years back in Finland. It was so cozy aroma. So mellow and a bit of agressive too. A little of meaty note, but that was okay!

I did 10 second steep. Too short? Maybe! But hey… it is already full of flavour. And it is so mellow-creamy, but on the other hand it is woody and lightly smoky. Sweet aftertaste and mouth coating qualities. I wish my tea stays longer warm; I use too big bowl for it. Nevertheless, it is tasty even lukewarm.

Second steep, 15 seconds long, reminds me even more that sauna experience. But instead using my noste, I am using my mouth for feeling it. It is woody, but creamy in same time, again mouthcoating and some light and refreshing note there. The smokiness is low, but decent in the flavour profile. Derk said it is comforting and I have to agree. Of course, I have opened map of Japan to see where my shipment is heading and how far it is from the Japanese plant, but I am rather checking the tea plantations nearby. It is in the Shiga prefecture and not even Yunomi is helping much with teas from this place.

It’s a bit drying, but so highly drinkable. You never feel complete dryness in the mouth, because, as I have wrote, it is mouth coating and creamy.

It doesn’t hold for long. I felt in fourth steep it loses its power, and goes more into fruity notes. It is not a flaw though. Maybe my steeps were just too short. I feel it is redfruits. Not present too much, but they are there? Not stonefruit in my opinon.

Unique.

After buying and devouring 2 samples from this kilo brick, I finally decided to dive in and buy an entire brick. My tea budget isn’t very big, so dedicating $120 to a single tea takes a lot. In short: I love this tea. It is everything I want in a comforting cup, but I know it isn’t for everyone.

Smell (dry leaves): Smoke/campfire smoke, High mountain forest aromas, mushrooms
Smell (Wet Leaves/Cup): Smoke, malt, nutmeg, seaweed/umami, chocolate, bay leaf, salinity, minerals/rock

Taste: There is smoke, but not nearly as much as you’d think from the smell. That smoke really seams to bring out the chocolate-y malt notes. There is a nutmeg/cannella/cinnamon mixing in that gives the tea a big Mexican Hot Chocolate feel. The entire tea wants to go savory, but there is a very prominent mineral sweetness that takes the lead. No astringency. A bit oily in texture. The only bitterness is a dark chocolate bitterness.

This tea isn’t the best looking. It has a lot of stems. A lot of stems. Many. The leaves themselves are in excellent condition for a fu brick. The fermentation isn’t really heavy. The leaves are a dark forest green when wet. Being a fu brick, it is chock full of fungus. This tea always leaves me in a good mood. Really relaxing comforting tea. If the flavor profile sound good to you, I’d highly recommend sampling.

Tl;dr

Smokey, light and bright with underlying mild sweetness and creaminess. This one’s a sneaker hours later with its caffeine effects.

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Tonight I chose a tea that I thought would fit the supposed muting characteristics of a pot made of what was sold as benshan duanni clay (I think it’s benshan lüni based on color and texture; that topic may find its way into the Discussion board at another time). My first ever session with fu zhuan tea, and this is a smokey one.

I was unsure of how to prepare it. I put probably a bit over 8 grams in the pot and filled with boiling water to roughly half capacity, 100 maybe up to 120mL and left the lid off to brew based on color. First steep was 45s, followed by 5 more at 30/30/45/60/120s.

The dry leaf smelled like sharp, bitter-dry woodsmoke which transferred over into taste. I couldn’t taste much beyond that, maybe a slight nutty-fruity sweetness, straw and minerals but it was very comforting. The body of the tea was light with some fleeting oiliness and later numbing to the tongue, no astringency, rather smooth. Cooling in the mouth, with the smokiness lingering on the palate. I felt my body relax a little while sipping, with some warmth and heaviness creeping into my limbs. First, I felt that comfort, followed by a sneakier narcotic feeling, then the discomfort of lying in bed halfasleep/halfawake with an overactive mind and thumping heart.

The liquor was always clear, golden turning red later. Not that I was really expecting anything from a first time with a new type of tea, but knowing this is a fermented tea, I was prepared for a dark and potentially murky brew. The dry leaf of the brick was dark and stemmy, while the spent leaf revealed only light fermentation. I did not notice any of the golden flower mold in my chunk off the brick.

Overall, I’d say it’s a pleasant drink with no glaring faults and I’ll enjoy drinking what I have. It is quite smokey, though, so if that’s not your thing I’d steer well clear of this one.