Poor Hidden Song, so uninteresting, it's forgotten. Put that above the Ban Komaen, of course.
Yesterday, I did the 2002 Yiwu Ancient Spirit, sold by YS. This is similar to the Fuhai Six Leaves Yiwu, except that it's a little nuttier and doesn't have as much backbone in terms of wood or leather. Viscosity is sometimes marginal. Astringency is a big factor, as is some bitter-tart, and needs to be brewed around. The taste has little dynamicism through the session, and grows thinner at too rapid a pace. A bit of deep honey, a bit of soil and root herbs, a bit of leather, and a bit of nuttiness. Aftertastes are generally pretty minor. A bit of Yiwu style sweet huigan in mouth, and I caught a pungent huigan at the top of the throat in a sip of one cup. This does have a bit of noticeable qi. The durability is not particularly great. It'll last longer, but the taste gets too thin and boring.
Today's tea was the 2001 Yiwu Spring buds with that old-style wrapper used for a more famous yiwu in the 80s. The leaf material in sampletea's '99 version looks exactly the same:http://www.sampletea.com/product/1999-yunnan-yiwu-shan-chun-jian-tea-cake-green . I didn't really like this one because it reminds me very much of this dingxing cake that I have. I can drink it, but it has pesticide (as this spring buds does too), so I have to wash it and all. The weird thing was that the dingxing has a bolder and deeper taste, so in theory, I should like this a lot, but it has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think it's mainly because the taste is muddy, with some micro-not-so-nice tastes (I've never valued the 2001 Mingyuanhao at Houde because it tasted similarly dirty, but in contrast to these two teas, has way more sweet flavors). So I always drink the dingxing, have some cups, and mostly not come back for the back end out of a lack of appetite. This Yiwu Spring Buds is *very* similar to the dingxing, except that it uses somewhat smaller leaves and has more tips, and that's borne out with a somewhat sweeter note of root veggies and root herbs like sarsaparilla, while having less wood and bark notes that the dingxing has. Aroma is not much of a factor. Decent viscosity, and a random huigan in the throat. Doesn't have much in the mouth, I don't think. Certainly more dynamic than the Ancient Spirit as depth notes changes (can include licorice, for example). Drying astringency has to be managed in later brews. Needs to be said that there are lots of this sort of tea floating around. If you're paying more than $50-$60 for this, you're getting ripped off. Don't necessarily get fooled by the thickness and depth of the flavor, and you definitely need to wash this tea.
Yesterday, I did the 2002 Yiwu Ancient Spirit, sold by YS. This is similar to the Fuhai Six Leaves Yiwu, except that it's a little nuttier and doesn't have as much backbone in terms of wood or leather. Viscosity is sometimes marginal. Astringency is a big factor, as is some bitter-tart, and needs to be brewed around. The taste has little dynamicism through the session, and grows thinner at too rapid a pace. A bit of deep honey, a bit of soil and root herbs, a bit of leather, and a bit of nuttiness. Aftertastes are generally pretty minor. A bit of Yiwu style sweet huigan in mouth, and I caught a pungent huigan at the top of the throat in a sip of one cup. This does have a bit of noticeable qi. The durability is not particularly great. It'll last longer, but the taste gets too thin and boring.
Today's tea was the 2001 Yiwu Spring buds with that old-style wrapper used for a more famous yiwu in the 80s. The leaf material in sampletea's '99 version looks exactly the same:http://www.sampletea.com/product/1999-yunnan-yiwu-shan-chun-jian-tea-cake-green . I didn't really like this one because it reminds me very much of this dingxing cake that I have. I can drink it, but it has pesticide (as this spring buds does too), so I have to wash it and all. The weird thing was that the dingxing has a bolder and deeper taste, so in theory, I should like this a lot, but it has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think it's mainly because the taste is muddy, with some micro-not-so-nice tastes (I've never valued the 2001 Mingyuanhao at Houde because it tasted similarly dirty, but in contrast to these two teas, has way more sweet flavors). So I always drink the dingxing, have some cups, and mostly not come back for the back end out of a lack of appetite. This Yiwu Spring Buds is *very* similar to the dingxing, except that it uses somewhat smaller leaves and has more tips, and that's borne out with a somewhat sweeter note of root veggies and root herbs like sarsaparilla, while having less wood and bark notes that the dingxing has. Aroma is not much of a factor. Decent viscosity, and a random huigan in the throat. Doesn't have much in the mouth, I don't think. Certainly more dynamic than the Ancient Spirit as depth notes changes (can include licorice, for example). Drying astringency has to be managed in later brews. Needs to be said that there are lots of this sort of tea floating around. If you're paying more than $50-$60 for this, you're getting ripped off. Don't necessarily get fooled by the thickness and depth of the flavor, and you definitely need to wash this tea.