In this review I am digging into some Yiwu tea from Henning, who lives in Shanghai. I got 4 really interesting samples from his private stash (thank you so much Henning). This one is a Gao Shan Zhai tea from 2019! Gao Shan Zhai is a famous village in the greater Yiwu area. The dry leafs already smell very sweet. This was also the first occasion of getting to try my new oak board by Vlastimil Hanus (Love the color...).
So knowing it’s a tea sources by https://www.yiwumountaintea.com/ from which I never had the chance to sample any tea before, I am happy to share my thoughts about this tea. First of all the tea has nice perfume smell with hints of flowers, and when the liquor hit my tongue I felt a really nice clean thickness, followed by a long lasting sweetness! This tea is subtle but strong at the same time and is not only covering the tongue but also the throat. It leaves a nice feeling all the way done to the chest, I guess that is what people call typical Yiwu!
As often when sampling Sheng PuErh - drinking a full infusions alone - I got a mild sweat. I don’t know if this is because of the cha Qi or cause I am so concentrated brewing/drinking/shooting and also taking in loads of hot liquid into me. But this tea really overwhelmed me.
Henning commented about the ageing potential of this tea: “ … like most Yiwu teas it will start to show its best side from 4th or 5th year. Most of Yiwu teas in my possession start a very strong transformation from year 3 starting. sweetness, smoothness and thickness all increase dramatically and the fragrance changes from a light fresh one into the direction of honey and dry fruits. very intriguing…”
All in all a really great tea which easily makes 10-20 infusions, great sweetness, subtle flower aroma, and really thick on the tongue, actually the feeling on the tongue is quite remarkable. Thanks again to Henning for sharing this really great tea with me. Here some more pictures for you.
