I tried these for a year or so, and found the Shui Jin Gui from Seven Cups (which was only available as a Light Roast) was far too light for me as where the other seven cups oolongs that I bought, this put me off Shui Jin Gui and Seven Cups altogether, maybe now I am older and a tiny bit wiser I may try them again sometime.
I tried amongst others Hou De's Shui Xian in a variety of aged and high roasted forms and found the taste of charcoal overpowering, but I still have much of that left and must revisit to see how time may have tempered them.
In between I tasted some ordinary and some exquisite DHP, and a passable Bai Ji Guan, and a variety of good rare cultivars from Dragon Tea House, all the while aware that I need to get a few Rou Gui's one day.
About a year ago or slightly more I became aware from a malaysian friend of 3 first generation children of DHP. Sparrow's Tongue, Strange Vermilion and North Star.
Latterly I have been sampling a number of Tie Luo Hans and love the thick, rich nature which is a great contrast to DHP - and with DHP and TLH being touted as the more robust and BJG and SJG being touted as the more delicate - I somehow convinced myself that children of DHP would be of the robust kind.
I purchased some Sparrow's Tongue from Jing UK and this did nothing to dispel that myth. This year I tried BDYH in Penang and was immediately disappointed with the tasting - thin, watery, some bitterness and greenery - but I was not sure if the "shop owner" was paying enough attention to the brewing - and this was late in the evening on my penultimate buying trip to malaysia. So I bought some
Wow, I love it
Tonight I brewed 6 grams in a 114 ml zhuni and gave it a 2 second rinse
1st Infusion 15 seconds
Sweet water, smooth and delicate, but a medium light good body and tongue coating texture. A whiff of perfume, a little hard to place and a nice warm delicate fruity feeling.
2nd Infusion 20 seconds
Again nice sweet water is the standout impression, but with an enhanced perfume - sort of cross between violets and blueberries, the aroma more noticeable as the tip of the tongue lifts up and down near the roof of the mouth when doing the final swallow.
3rd Infusion 25 seconds
Still sweet and very more-ish, with a warm spiciness appearing as an afterthought. Not Cinnamon, Not Cloves, Not Pepper but something like a delicate crosss between all 3.
4th Infusion 35 seconds
5th Infusion 50 seconds
6th Infusion 6 minutes
No matter what I do they all taste roughly the same, very drinkable, and thirst quenching and demanding I drink more, now perhaps their is a background dry fruit flavour like green plums, ever so slight but there somewhere.
7th Infusion 22 minutes
Very similar to the 6th
but I think that is enough for these leaves.WHAT do you experience with Bei Dou Yi Hao
Interesting read, I don't really know much about Yancha.
The conversation got round to tea forums and online shopping. I told him I had purchased tea from Teacuppa, and he informed me that the person behind Teacuppa was a good friend and had sourced the majority of their tea from HIM, so the teas I bought 2 years ago were probably his. He also went on to relate that Teacuppa had now set up their own links with suppliers in China and were sourcing fewer teas from him in 2010 and very few for 2011 if any.
