JingMai Moonlight

Life for me has been a whirlwind of activity, opportunity, events, homework, duties and movement.

I am finally settled down and in my zone to be able to flow through this part of my life with ease, and with that, comes more tea sessions and reviews.
I apologize for my lack of posting up until this point.
I have just had too much on my plate, but now its time to turn that around and make sure there is always something in my cup instead.

Gingko, as always, provides exceptional quality, and I will stand by this statement for any one of her teas, even ones that I have not personally sampled. I trust her opinions and learn from her vast knowledge.
This tea is a special one and just the right treat for an occasion such as this.

The JingMai Moonlight white tea is unlike any white tea I have had the opportunity to taste. This tea changed my perceptions of what a white tea was and what it could present to the palate.

The dry leaf is fruity, very fruity. Pears, peaches, apples, nectarines and strawberries come to mind. This in itself was a surprise upon opening the package.

As the beautiful leaves are unraveling and pouring their bounty into the water, I get wafts of the aroma. In many aspects, this tea highly resembles a Bai Hao; honey sweetness paired with a floral delicacy. Even the copper/amber color and look of the leaves slightly resembles an Oriental Beauty.

Now, the aroma was powerful.
I can remember nights where my mother would make a large pot of apple cider and leave it on the stove for us to sip on throughout the evening.
The aroma was quite similar to what this smelled like.
Apples, cloves, orange zest, cinnamon; the works.

The taste was not quite unlike the taste of the apple cider either!
Diluted apple cider with rock sugar.
There was a candy sweetness that was saturating and salivating. One comment by my roommate after he sampled the brew: "I thought you didn't add sugar to your tea."
Indeed I do not add sugar to my tea, but this certainly tasted as though I did.

The second infusion was rich with savory honey notes and tastes more like a Yunnan Golden Bud tea than a white tea. The liquor is dark in color but not heavy in taste.

This is quite the perplexing, although immensely enjoyable tea.
The infusions that follow become more woody in nature, but never lack an outstanding sweetness.
The leaves have a determined endurance and produce many wonderful infusions for me to enjoy.

Life is good today.


~billy

Wuyi ShuiXian

For a rainy day and a stressful week of finals ahead of me, I have a wuyi to warm both body and spirit.

The full title of this beautiful tea, as provided by Gingko, is Hand Processed Wuyi Shui Xian Heavy Roast Grade I.

As the dry leaf should already prove, this tea was definitely made entirely by hand. The lengthy, slender leaves are the work of a skilled artist, carefully created into this masterpiece.

The leaves, right from the start already have an aura of warmth about them and comfort my slight melancholy.

These leaves are peachy-keen to say the least. The smell of the stone fruit can be detected from a distance. Caramel, butterscotch and vanilla aromas become stronger as the leaves inch closer to my nose. There is a mild scent of burnt toast, which reminds us of the laborious art of roasting the leaves to perfection.

The water warms the vessel and leaves, and out comes a fragrant steam;

burnt toast, wood and vanilla.

The liquor smells of roasting nuts and savory sweet caramel, so much so that I consider labeling it as a rare indulgence.

Thank goodness the liquor was not as saccharine as it may have suggested in its previous forms.

This tea has a cherry-like resemblance, with a mild hint of burnt gingerbread (by no means is this negative). It is syrup-y in texture, and bright and clear.

The tea, after a rousing session, leaves a puckering, zesty sourness/numbness on the back of the tongue and the sides of the mouth.

As the tea cools, apricot and vanilla flavors soothe me.

"So much to do, so little time," as the saying goes...

...but there will always be time for tea.

~billy

TongCheng Small Orchid

Another day of spring, another green consumed.
This tea is, again, from the much respected Gingko.

The vessel is a piece by Petr Novak, which I will introduce in a later post.

This tea is a great looking, family made product. The lack of uniformity makes this tea special, and gives it a personal touch.

Smelling the dry leaf brings to mind bamboo shoots, cream and cucumbers. There is no evidence of roasting, which gives this tea a very fresh, clean scent to it.

A submersion in cool water draws out the wonderful gift this tea has to offer.
The liquor is sweet and delectable.
Cucumber, grass and fresh mint come to mind when the first cup is consumed.
The light rain outside the window calms me, and the tea warms me.

This light, delicate tea is very fresh and clean, and truly tastes young. The small shoots used in production can attest to that.

A cooling menthol coats my throat.

I consume several more cups, with each infusion bringing out other subtle notes to capture and relish.

The large amount of leaf I used did not give off any astringency whatsoever.
This tea was well made, and is easy to brew.

Greens are never too much to handle, and never have one stumbling to find descriptors. Each one has its own simple medley of tastes and aromas.

The experience in tasting this fine tea was much improved when sipped out of the handmade cups from Petr. The roughness of one cup and the contrasting glossy smooth surface of the other compliment each other and give a different experience of the tea.

Happy Easter to all; He is risen.
He>I


~billy