I acquired this tea when I was on a trip to San Francisco, California earlier this year. One of the first places I headed to was Chinatown, for obvious reasons. I stumbled upon a few very nice tea shops and spent quite a bit of money replenishing my stock.
This tea was purchased at the TenRen shop for a very good price.
The dry leaves are quite a treat for the eye. The leaves are long and wiry and have a vast spectrum of colors; various shades of green, light and dark browns, and a few tan-ish leaves sprinkled in.
The scent of the leaves is a bit contradictory...subtle, but powerful. Hard to explain.
The leaves emit a very fresh, creamy aroma. Behind that, a soft scent of cabbage is noted.
The leaves smell sweet.
First infusion...the aroma is noted as buttery soft...sip...
The brew is unbelievably smooth; velvet-like. It is soothing on a dry throat.
It reminds me of eating a head of iceberg lettuce. It is watery with the slightest hint of some leafy green.
The second infusion is poured and examined.
The buttery aroma is far more pronounced, as the leaves have expanded quite a bit.
A light astringency emerges and gives the tea a wonderful character. The vegetal notes come to the front of the palate. It is very close to how a broccoli would taste, except subdued.
The tea lasted for two more infusions before it gave out. But that is not surprising considering the usual endurance of a Baozhong.
Quite enjoyable, and an easy drinker.
Very nice tea!
~Billy
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Wow, your notes are more fancy and professional than mine. I guess it really doesn't matter, though. What matters is enjoying the tea, really.
ReplyDeleteStill, I find almost as much enjoyment reading about tea as I do drinking it.
I just had a quick glance at Ten Ren's site. Looks pretty good, actually. Once I go through my pu'er (which I just received, and I'm going to try to stretch as far as I can), I'll probably try ordering something from Ten Ren.
-Fox
Fox,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliments!
And I agree with you, it is the tea that matters most!
There is one thing you should know about Ten Ren is that not all of their teas are single estate. A few of them are blends, just meaning there are teas from different places in the same batch. But they do have a nice selection and I have not been disappointed by anything of theirs yet!