rabbit wrote:Drinking this 2009 jinggu wenshan this morning, I find it more mellow than the jinggu purple bud I had yesterday. The sweetness tends to be more in the bouquet than in the tea itself.
The tea soup is a light orange and not as complex as I was hoping it would be, has a nice mouthfeel though. I steeped it in my yixing at about 200f for 10 seconds, I think I'll lower the temp for the next infusion, and try 15-20 seconds.
> maybe with longer steep the flavors would come more fully. but it seems to me that this tea expresses itself through the quality of a few flavors rather than through complexity in structure. the young age is also a factor, probably. plus, as it is subtle, getting further acquainted with it may lead to discoveries : for instance, the mellowness has different ways of coming out : in the honey hint, in a buttery hint, and on "lighter" tones it becomes sweetness. the texture/mouthfeel also expresses it.
What I liked is the "clean" elegant way in which the flavors and mouthfeelings come out. on later steeps they combine nicely. "strong delicacy", sort of.
I noticed that the beginning of gong fu cha seems important : if you start with the right temperature the delicacy will be present and the tea will last longer. if a bit too hot, it won't be spoiled but some things may be missing and it will be shorter. Is such sensitivity to temperature a sign of "high delicacy" or can it be considered a relative flaw ? The best pu ers I have encountered take max temperature bravely, but I must say I had not tasted jinggu arbor leaves before. So I guess this is to be considered the character of this cake. with age it may likely "consolidate".
anyway, please tell your further impressions with other temp. ! I must say I am very interested in reading other views on a tea that made an impression on me.
