Sample G: 6g
The dry leaves have a bit of diversity in shapes and colors, and taken from the top of a surface. Doesn't look new. Looks firmly pressed, but easily broken up. Not very much dry aroma. The first brew is light, with a classic Banna honey-sheng aroma and taste, with a hint of sourness. Medium thickness, with smooth feeling of the texture, more slick than velvet or silk, and with light astringent finish. Qi shows up from the start and hits hard. Only aftertastes comes from converting astringency after finishing the cup. The second brew developed a distinct aroma sorta like leather, sweet grains, and barnyard. The taste also becomes more distinct, and I think of it as savory, slightly bitter, and a little like Essence of Tea's Wuliang Wild. Body thickens up and is still smooth with a minimum of astringency. Not much aftertaste, but a flavorless huigan shows up, cooling throatfeel, as well as more qi. The aroma of the third brew has a leatheriness that I can't place, plus a puff of potpourri that I associate with Wuliang Wild. The Wuliang Wild sensibility goes into the bark/soil taste, along with a hint of lightly sour molasses nutty that Mangjing can have, which also comes in the finish. The body is still very good, still little and late aftertaste (with some sensate sweetness on the tongue), and I'm still stoned by the soporific qi. The fourth brew is a bit less unusual and wild/transitional tree flavor in taste, and being more like what I associate with Mengku. There is a stronger throatfeel and more of a yun. This also gives sensate sweetness again, in the back of the mouth, like flecks of sugar grains scattered across the soft palate. Fifth brew is decreasing in the potency of the taste (which is still pleasantly sweet flavored), thickness, and increasing in astringency. Some yuns, and the qi is fading to the background. Continues to decline over the next four brews. Over the course of the session, have found that the tea gave a warming feel to the body. I stopped here and concluded that it was a wild or transitional tree cake firmly pressed into cake or brick, probably from an area north of Banna, eg, Ruirong DaXueShan brick from early 2k's. I also concluded that EoT Wild Wuliang is better because it's more durable among other reasons. The sample had better qi and better yuns, though.
It turned out that I was guessing zebras again, t'was Wisteria '07 Hong Yin. Which turned out to be perplexing to me since I've had a sample of this before, and I certainly didn't match the descriptions in comments 6612 and 6629 in terms of the taste, but I did find the lack of session dynamicism, yuns and no huigans, etc. This might be impacted by me having used a seasoned pot for the previous sample and a gaiwan for this one. I wound up immediately trying another brew, though (The back end of the session was reasonably pleasurable with strong qi, after dinner), and it tasted like what my memories suggests when I tasted it before, so that was just weird. It feels like I just got completely turned around trying to over-analyze the tea. While that was bad for identifying the tea, I think this was good, in that I understood the tea better after identification. I think there is some wild leaf used in this tea. It wasn't very bitter (but nicely so), and it had some of the behaviors I associate with wild/transitional leaf. The qi was much stronger in this sample than in the previous sample, however it wasn't that high quality of a qi. This qi more made me feel different and not better. I'd say this is one of those teas that you do buy if you can afford, with the caution that it may age just a little funky. Didn't make me quite as happy as some of the other samples, but it doesn't stand out for better or worse in what is a rather strong selection of samples.
Another thing that this try made me think about, was the difference between an empty mind and an open mind, in terms of investigatory approaches. Zen and Inspector Gadget! Go-Go Gadget Salivary Glands!!!!
...um...here's a towel, sorry man, didn't mean to wet up your face...
The dry leaves have a bit of diversity in shapes and colors, and taken from the top of a surface. Doesn't look new. Looks firmly pressed, but easily broken up. Not very much dry aroma. The first brew is light, with a classic Banna honey-sheng aroma and taste, with a hint of sourness. Medium thickness, with smooth feeling of the texture, more slick than velvet or silk, and with light astringent finish. Qi shows up from the start and hits hard. Only aftertastes comes from converting astringency after finishing the cup. The second brew developed a distinct aroma sorta like leather, sweet grains, and barnyard. The taste also becomes more distinct, and I think of it as savory, slightly bitter, and a little like Essence of Tea's Wuliang Wild. Body thickens up and is still smooth with a minimum of astringency. Not much aftertaste, but a flavorless huigan shows up, cooling throatfeel, as well as more qi. The aroma of the third brew has a leatheriness that I can't place, plus a puff of potpourri that I associate with Wuliang Wild. The Wuliang Wild sensibility goes into the bark/soil taste, along with a hint of lightly sour molasses nutty that Mangjing can have, which also comes in the finish. The body is still very good, still little and late aftertaste (with some sensate sweetness on the tongue), and I'm still stoned by the soporific qi. The fourth brew is a bit less unusual and wild/transitional tree flavor in taste, and being more like what I associate with Mengku. There is a stronger throatfeel and more of a yun. This also gives sensate sweetness again, in the back of the mouth, like flecks of sugar grains scattered across the soft palate. Fifth brew is decreasing in the potency of the taste (which is still pleasantly sweet flavored), thickness, and increasing in astringency. Some yuns, and the qi is fading to the background. Continues to decline over the next four brews. Over the course of the session, have found that the tea gave a warming feel to the body. I stopped here and concluded that it was a wild or transitional tree cake firmly pressed into cake or brick, probably from an area north of Banna, eg, Ruirong DaXueShan brick from early 2k's. I also concluded that EoT Wild Wuliang is better because it's more durable among other reasons. The sample had better qi and better yuns, though.
It turned out that I was guessing zebras again, t'was Wisteria '07 Hong Yin. Which turned out to be perplexing to me since I've had a sample of this before, and I certainly didn't match the descriptions in comments 6612 and 6629 in terms of the taste, but I did find the lack of session dynamicism, yuns and no huigans, etc. This might be impacted by me having used a seasoned pot for the previous sample and a gaiwan for this one. I wound up immediately trying another brew, though (The back end of the session was reasonably pleasurable with strong qi, after dinner), and it tasted like what my memories suggests when I tasted it before, so that was just weird. It feels like I just got completely turned around trying to over-analyze the tea. While that was bad for identifying the tea, I think this was good, in that I understood the tea better after identification. I think there is some wild leaf used in this tea. It wasn't very bitter (but nicely so), and it had some of the behaviors I associate with wild/transitional leaf. The qi was much stronger in this sample than in the previous sample, however it wasn't that high quality of a qi. This qi more made me feel different and not better. I'd say this is one of those teas that you do buy if you can afford, with the caution that it may age just a little funky. Didn't make me quite as happy as some of the other samples, but it doesn't stand out for better or worse in what is a rather strong selection of samples.
Another thing that this try made me think about, was the difference between an empty mind and an open mind, in terms of investigatory approaches. Zen and Inspector Gadget! Go-Go Gadget Salivary Glands!!!!
...um...here's a towel, sorry man, didn't mean to wet up your face...