thick & green: „2007 Dayi Hou Qing Beeng“

Name: „2007 Dayi Hou Qing Beeng Tea Cake (701)“
Vendor: Sampletea
Producer: Menghai
Origin: unknown
Storage: unknown
Link: this tea at sampletea.com

Smell & look of the dry leaves:

I think it looks beautiful, big leaves.. some red …some dark brown, some really black… kind of fine and elegant.

Normally i can`t smell much from the dry leaves… but here there is some orange zest aroma, wich reminds me of those kind of“scent bags“ which they sold at Christmas at the „xmas bazaar“ at my high school.

For this session i used 8g in a 120 ml gaiwan with hot filtered tab water, wich was during the session mostly around 96° to 99° Celsius.

Smell of the rinse:

pleasant, fresh cake (the one you really eat), white chocolate
the wett leaves are smelling a bit like a fruit punsch

1 infusion: oily mouthfeel, the mouthfeel immediately impressed me… even before the enchanting sweetness was attracting my attention. The brew is still a tiny bit too thin, i gave this not enough time i guess, only some 10 seconds… slightly too thin, but already really good.

While you drink it, it feels like it turns to jelly in your mouth… there is one very unique special taste which reminds me of a kind of dessert i once was eating… i can`t remember what exactly, could be some Japanese stuff… a bit like jam, but super-compressed… wett… very sweet, but with a unique fruity taste and mouthfeel… oh how poor that i can`t recall this more precise.

I`m quite exited how this session will progress.

My throat is coated with a glue-like sweetness (despite that the brew is, as mentioned, a bit thin)…

… i am irritated, why is this tea so damn good?

2: As soon as i smell this infusion… there are a lot of fruity nuances to catch… some lychee… read apple.. no smoke or whiskey, but definitely some darker wood notes as well… but no, can’t call it tobacco.
I expected a great cup of tea… and here it is. Perfect.
This is so fine, clean complex tea… it has everything. The bitterness is strong enough as well, it is not (but almost) a sugar-symphony… a lot of sweetness in the throat…but not only there, already every where else as well.
The strongest notes are fruity ones… red berries are quite present… this infusion has, besides the sweetness a quite present and very enjoyable bitterness.

3: Maybe i over brewed it a bit, the bitterness (although still enjoyable) is a bit too harsh this time.

4: flash brewed this one, was a good decision… more like brew Nr.2 again.. this oily, very think mouthfeel is really thrilling…

5: some vanilla… overall experience stays almost the same … the fruity notes are a little bit less eye-catching now.

6: good

7: very good

i understand why this is called „thick green cake“ … all this sweet notes, this „glue-like“ sweetness… this particular aftertaste (like the Japanese(?) dessert i can`t really recall…) all this fits to this description … thick green cake!

… after steep 9 was too thin… i gave it a extreme long brew that was not so tasty… i feel the tea want`s to go to bed now, same as me.

very elastic leaves

conclusion: I like it very much, but i guess the high amount of sweetness and this „glue-like“ mouth- and throat-feel could be a little bit too much „candy-land“ for some people who prefer more tart teas.
Normally i could get quite easy turned off by a tea that is so dominated by sweetness… but this time it captivated me from the first second on.

tastes: vanilla, sugar, honey, cake, white chocolate, red berries, lychee …

5 Star Conclusion
Mutability from brew to brew:
Bitterness:
Astringency:
Mouthfeel:
Stamina:
Smokeyness:
Dryness:
Tartness:
Fruitiness:
Sweetness:
Complexity: