OK! My tea has arrived and with it the "Golden Flower"-tea... oh that sounds so much better than "Yellow Mold-tea
I haven't prepared a detailled examination yet and since the package arrived via air freight three days ago, the tea probably isn't over his jet lag yet and not in best form. But enough for first impressions
First of all: It really is very unique. It has a really special taste profile, very different from Shu or Sheng.. Its difficult to describe, its rather mellow, with strong taste and medium astringency (very pleasant for me) but really not bitter.
At first its differentness is a little shock, but actually its quite easy to like that tea.. its much more accessible than a wet-stored Sheng or a fishy Shu. It has some of the "creamyness" of better Shus, but is in general more bright than them, also the leaves are greenish and the infusion is yellow, slightly orange.
So it does exibit some traits of mellow Shengs, better Shus or even Oolongs, but from all them only a bit.. a lot of its character is totally unique and very likeable.
Also its interesting how the tea 'feels' - it doesn't have a very strong and punchy Qi, its rather laid-back and lets you still be connected to the ground and is not as demanding on the stomach as a 2011 Sheng would likely be.. so it feels a bit more Shu-like. Just as I said.. to give you an orientation.. it cannot be confused with something else.
I used the loose leaves first, they don't have a lot of smell in the open, but the still-compressed pieces do.. Aroma is not weak, rather intense but pleasant and with a lot of stamina... there is quite a shift in taste over various infusions. It doesn't have the complexity of oder Shengs, but its from 2011 and so that doesn't come as a surprise.
So I expect quite a bit more of interesting impressions once the tea has fully acclimated and I get to loosening up the brick-part.
But I certainly found a new friend here. Not bad at all and a very welcome change. Theres a large discount if one takes the 1kg-brick, I'm thinking about it.. might be nice to give this tea some time to mature.