
2012 YQH 666 Teigung
31 Oct, 2016, 4.7g/85ml Novak pot
This was a single-session sample from EG.
Damp leaf: Very sharp pungent tomatoey fumes. Very pure — no storage.
Wet leaf: Deep perfume, rich florals and fruits.
Wash: Slight smoke on aroma, very fine smoke present throughout. No visible char but a very fine presence of pure smoke, no tobacco, no cigarette, no barbecue. Very light beige yellow. Quite rough on gums already, slight salivation.
- Bitter, astringent. There is sweet aftertaste but the bitter sensation remains. Easily coats the mouth. Alertness.
- Quite high thickness, in the sense of staying together and not dissipating into the crevices. Coating, oily but not gasoline. Quite astringent, more smoke. Some warmth.
- Some gentle florals begin to emerge in the aroma, and these remain for a long time, but they are very subtle and hang in the background. The dominant aroma is smoky hay, hay, and fruity hay. Different shades of hay, some barnyard in the sense of pungent hay. Body effect begins, I feel it in the shoulders, moving to the head and forehead. At first this is quite moving but the intensity subsides rapidly.
- Punchy yellow-orange and cloudy. Growing taste and aroma. Frisson on the arms, neck and back. Warmth in the hands. Bitter lingers.
- Rough on the tongue. One of the more astringent teas in recent memory. A heating blanket covers the back, but major body frisson. Sweat on the forehead. Quite stoning, more of a stunned feeling. Must stop and ponder – nothing. Much later, more than 5 minutes after sip, get sweet aftertaste. May be saliva finally returning, can’t tell. Aggressive.
- Pungent gentle honey continues on the liquor. Quinine, bitterness. Unending bitterness.
I tried a fresh 2016 Pasha and it was bitter but not as bitter as this tea. This tea is actually not as astringent as it is bitter. Unfortunately I can’t say that the bitterness converts to sweetness, it stays for a very long time, even after an hour and after eating a mango. The hay aspect reminds me slightly of what I remember from the 2016 W2T Poundcake, funnily enough, but I have also tasted it on some Bulang teas.
Summarizing: this tea is primarily bitter, with a dominant taste/aroma of hay and fine pure smoke, and a background subtle aroma of floral pungent honey. The tea is very pure and punchy, medium-high thickness and gives a medium amount of body effect, much less than you would expect from the aggressive bitterness and significant astringency. If I had this tea I certainly would not be drinking it anytime soon.