xiaobai wrote:Last week I've spent some time steeping and studying two Shengs made by Taiwanese Companies, namely Golden Dharma (aka Jin Damo) and Sanhetang's Red label (from 2014 and 2015).
And the thing that astonishes me most is how different steeping parameters one has to employ to really enjoy them.
Already familiar with JIn Damo, which contains a great deal of Jingmai old arbor material with rather large leaves, I find this tea quite sweet, smooth, fragrant, and easy to drink (which for me means that I can drink it in large amounts and my stomach will not badly resent from it).
However, brewing it to full enjoyment typically requires using piping hot water, a yixing pot, and rather long steeping times of the order of minutes.
On the other hand, Sanhetang's red label seems tolerate much less high temperature, and therefore it rather calls for a gaiwan or a shibo.
I am not sure, but my guess it is Yiwu material (need to do some research on this... does somebody know?). The leaves are rather small, with high concentration of buds and a grassy smell. The soup is light and in later steepings it may taste bit thin. However, a very nice sweet aftertaste progressively builds up in the mouth which can be felt for hours and in between meals.
Overall, IMO, a fairly calming/warming Sheng, which is not something I have come across in most young Sheng available nowadays.
However, the vastly different methods required by these two Shengs leaves me wondering whether they can be indeed thought as the same tea type.
The red mark is a blend
of a variety
of very low-yield forest regions with small canopies
of old trees. Yes, all broadly in Yiwu. I was told the recipe (which I don't think I can disclose) for 2015 is more or less the same as 2014, but the proportions aren't.
Your description surprises me. I'm still a month away from tasting this tea, but knowing what the materials are, and having tasted a couple
of similar SHT teas that preceded it, I'd expect a very thick tea.
Different methods... Might be the roasting time and oxidation
of the fresh leaves. The processing
of these Yiwu forest teas tends to be dodgy because
of operational logistics in such places, but I know SHT employs a bunch
of people to more or less take care
of that. The 13 Chawang bing that's available on the West is very pristine compared to the usual tea from these areas.
Conversely, I've had more than one Jingmai that was processed in a greener fashion. I think deliberately.
Also, XZH employs a lovely technique
of picking leaves 1-4 instead
of 1-3, which gives their tea a different quality...
P.s. Taking in only the differences in terroir/varietals, these teas are supposed to be hugely different anyway.
