2013 Zhenren Yufeng 2013
23 Nov 2016, 3.5g/65ml gaiwan. [7,9]
A remarkable experience with this new cake from Wistaria: the 2013 Zhenren Yufeng.
The cake is beautiful, with large unbroken leaves, loose pliable compression, and an incredibly rich aroma of tobacco. The scent is reminiscent of the WS Qingteng but not quite as extreme pungent perfume and sushi as that one.
The early steeps have a chicken soup thickness, with a lot of savoury notes, and the same amazing tobacco on the liquor. Bitter / Sweet complex is already evident from the first steep.
The lid smell in the early steeps is strongly of an incredibly good Dancong, complex sweet and dark aroma.
Energy is evident even in the first steep, with shivering in the ribs and frisson along arms and neck. Extremely enjoyable body effect, floating, back frisson. Astringency and bitterness obvious but coupled with lots of salivation and sweetness. Long lasting perfume emergent from the mouth and also from the empty chahai.
Fantastic aromas from the empty cup coming even after 6-7 steeps. The body effect is so intense that I thought it would be a good idea to break up the session into three parts, breaking at 5 and also at 9. Upon restarting, immediately the energy returns, frisson layers coating the back.
Basically this tea has extremely good material, an excellent and unusual aroma of tobacco and perfume, strong body effect and uplifting swirling floating energy, medium thickness and all these qualities are long-lasting over a broken session. I am told that when released, this tea had a very mild taste and aroma, I find this quite remarkable. Also, The dancong/oolong aroma aspects in the early steeps are food for thought, I don’t know what to make of them, but this tea is one of my favourite younger teas.
