2007 Wistaria Lanyin (Blue Mark)
Sep 28, 2016, 3.9g/70ml Novak shibo [8.3]
Nice cake, large leaves, loose compression, less breakage than Hongyin.
Damp leaf: Fruity with strength aroma
Wet leaf: Raisins, dried fruits
Wash: Somewhat bland, thick, can feel face heaviness and heat beginning though.
- Light colour. Savoury, touch of sweetness. Great pungent aroma. Feel some cool light frisson on shoulders, prickly effect on face, head and ears, sweat on the face and upper back. Juicy aftertaste, savoury+sweet combo.
- Major waves of frisson/sensation to the head, neck and arms. Good sweet aftertaste. Some tannins showing but OK. Very nice plum or grape on tongue. Not getting the oily gasoline type strength, but a kind of gripping strength on surface of mouth. Prickly heat on arms and heat on legs.
- Pungent floral honey aroma, prickly heat, excellent huigan. After a decently long aftertaste there is a low-register vegetal tannin residual taste which is not ideal.
- Waves of uplift, not major but present. Cooling skin with increased heat inside. Somewhat dazed. Nice aftertaste and emergent aroma in mouth.
- Great huigan followed by multiplying/accumulating waves of shivering sensation up to head and lasting a long period of time as it reaches a peak. Enjoying the experience of feeling and moving this energy around.
- Remarkable qi experience with emotion super high mounting uplifting energy.
- Cascading waves of frisson, aroma still very nice,
- “buy more”
After a long break, returned to the tea which reproduced the mounting waves of qi, a remarkable effect, light cooling. Heat to the face, still has some huigan and strength after a good 14-18 steeps.
This tea does not have the direct sweetness of some of the Yiwu teas. It has a more moderate savoury-sweet arrival but has a quite strong sweet aftertaste. The huigan is excellent with this tea. There is also a pungent floral honey aroma. But above all is the remarkable mounting/multiplying waves of qi over 1-5 minute periods which reach a sustained maximum of high uplifting frisson activity with the potential for emotional experience, nostalgia, etc.
August 20, 2019 @ 3:01 pm
How does your Novák shibo and teapot compares to an average Yixing teapot in the same price range. And a regular gaiwan (porcelain).
August 20, 2019 @ 8:17 pm
Dear Elias,
Novak shibo absorbs/mutes the most, then the Novak pot, and then my yixing which is 70s Zini or 80s hongni. Porcelain doesn’t mute at all, everything is clear. If there is a small amount of smoke or geosmin in a tea, the yixing and Novak can mute this aspect. But it is a subtle difference and I have not found it extreme enough to warrant spending a lot on teaware. By far I use gaiwans most, and when I use yixing it is mostly for aesthetic and comfort reasons.