Yiwu Zheng Shan 2018, Aged Pu’er shengcha cha bing

NN

A good friend recently gifted me a lovely teapot – perfect timing, as I have a bunch of mid-aged sheng pu’er cakes that need some attention, and I’ve been wondering how best to brew them. This teapot is utterly perfect and I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful gift :) I enjoy the complex nature of Yiwu Zheng Shan – this is an elegant, sophisticated journey, certainly much more than just a combination of good flavors and sensations. There’s something about this tea that draws focus inward like a gravity well – it’s easy to get lost in the way these leaves open up in the teapot and stretch out through the nervous system. As I mentioned, the flavors and sensations are on-point. Yiwu as a region is represented exceptionally well here – these leaves are sweet and infinitely smooth, with soft and curvy notes of figs, plums, dates, raisins, bruised peaches and apricots. Honey and mint linger on the palate and build in the aftertaste, along with a cooling sensation in the throat. Although the sweet-fruity layers of flavor glide seamlessly across the palate, there’s also something else about them which is quite crystalline, like rock sugar that is slow to dissolve – or, to take this one step further, like rock sugar that slowly crystallizes on the palate and hardens across the session, revealing notes of old-growth forest. It contributes to the long-lasting aftertaste, and affords a dynamic second-layer to an otherwise seductively-smooth flavor profile. This is the best Yiwu pu’er I’ve ever had, and quickly becoming one of my favorite cakes too.

NN

A good friend recently gifted me a lovely teapot – perfect timing, as I have a bunch of mid-aged sheng pu’er cakes that need some attention, and I’ve been wondering how best to brew them. This teapot is utterly perfect and I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful gift :) I enjoy the complex nature of Yiwu Zheng Shan – this is an elegant, sophisticated journey, certainly much more than just a combination of good flavors and sensations. There’s something about this tea that draws focus inward like a gravity well – it’s easy to get lost in the way these leaves open up in the teapot and stretch out through the nervous system. As I mentioned, the flavors and sensations are on-point. Yiwu as a region is represented exceptionally well here – these leaves are sweet and infinitely smooth, with soft and curvy notes of figs, plums, dates, raisins, bruised peaches and apricots. Honey and mint linger on the palate and build in the aftertaste, along with a cooling sensation in the throat. Although the sweet-fruity layers of flavor glide seamlessly across the palate, there’s also something else about them which is quite crystalline, like rock sugar that is slow to dissolve – or, to take this one step further, like rock sugar that slowly crystallizes on the palate and hardens across the session, revealing notes of old-growth forest. It contributes to the long-lasting aftertaste, and affords a dynamic second-layer to an otherwise seductively-smooth flavor profile. This is the best Yiwu pu’er I’ve ever had, and quickly becoming one of my favorite cakes too.

NN

A good friend recently gifted me a lovely teapot – perfect timing, as I have a bunch of mid-aged sheng pu’er cakes that need some attention, and I’ve been wondering how best to brew them. This teapot is utterly perfect and I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful gift :) I enjoy the complex nature of Yiwu Zheng Shan – this is an elegant, sophisticated journey, certainly much more than just a combination of good flavors and sensations. There’s something about this tea that draws focus inward like a gravity well – it’s easy to get lost in the way these leaves open up in the teapot and stretch out through the nervous system. As I mentioned, the flavors and sensations are on-point. Yiwu as a region is represented exceptionally well here – these leaves are sweet and infinitely smooth, with soft and curvy notes of figs, plums, dates, raisins, bruised peaches and apricots. Honey and mint linger on the palate and build in the aftertaste, along with a cooling sensation in the throat. Although the sweet-fruity layers of flavor glide seamlessly across the palate, there’s also something else about them which is quite crystalline, like rock sugar that is slow to dissolve – or, to take this one step further, like rock sugar that slowly crystallizes on the palate and hardens across the session, revealing notes of old-growth forest. It contributes to the long-lasting aftertaste, and affords a dynamic second-layer to an otherwise seductively-smooth flavor profile. This is the best Yiwu pu’er I’ve ever had, and quickly becoming one of my favorite cakes too.

NN

A good friend recently gifted me a lovely teapot – perfect timing, as I have a bunch of mid-aged sheng pu’er cakes that need some attention, and I’ve been wondering how best to brew them. This teapot is utterly perfect and I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful gift :) I enjoy the complex nature of Yiwu Zheng Shan – this is an elegant, sophisticated journey, certainly much more than just a combination of good flavors and sensations. There’s something about this tea that draws focus inward like a gravity well – it’s easy to get lost in the way these leaves open up in the teapot and stretch out through the nervous system. As I mentioned, the flavors and sensations are on-point. Yiwu as a region is represented exceptionally well here – these leaves are sweet and infinitely smooth, with soft and curvy notes of figs, plums, dates, raisins, bruised peaches and apricots. Honey and mint linger on the palate and build in the aftertaste, along with a cooling sensation in the throat. Although the sweet-fruity layers of flavor glide seamlessly across the palate, there’s also something else about them which is quite crystalline, like rock sugar that is slow to dissolve – or, to take this one step further, like rock sugar that slowly crystallizes on the palate and hardens across the session, revealing notes of old-growth forest. It contributes to the long-lasting aftertaste, and affords a dynamic second-layer to an otherwise seductively-smooth flavor profile. This is the best Yiwu pu’er I’ve ever had, and quickly becoming one of my favorite cakes too.

NN

A good friend recently gifted me a lovely teapot – perfect timing, as I have a bunch of mid-aged sheng pu’er cakes that need some attention, and I’ve been wondering how best to brew them. This teapot is utterly perfect and I am very grateful to have received such a wonderful gift :) I enjoy the complex nature of Yiwu Zheng Shan – this is an elegant, sophisticated journey, certainly much more than just a combination of good flavors and sensations. There’s something about this tea that draws focus inward like a gravity well – it’s easy to get lost in the way these leaves open up in the teapot and stretch out through the nervous system. As I mentioned, the flavors and sensations are on-point. Yiwu as a region is represented exceptionally well here – these leaves are sweet and infinitely smooth, with soft and curvy notes of figs, plums, dates, raisins, bruised peaches and apricots. Honey and mint linger on the palate and build in the aftertaste, along with a cooling sensation in the throat. Although the sweet-fruity layers of flavor glide seamlessly across the palate, there’s also something else about them which is quite crystalline, like rock sugar that is slow to dissolve – or, to take this one step further, like rock sugar that slowly crystallizes on the palate and hardens across the session, revealing notes of old-growth forest. It contributes to the long-lasting aftertaste, and affords a dynamic second-layer to an otherwise seductively-smooth flavor profile. This is the best Yiwu pu’er I’ve ever had, and quickly becoming one of my favorite cakes too.