Viscous, sugary, bitter, powerful
Fruity, floral, honey, mineral, later more herbal.
Starts with a silky sweetness, and good oily mouthfeel, the second steep reveals some stonefruit bitterness, with brown sugary returning sweetness, the bitter notes evolve on the following steeps, but remains comfortable, also leaving a slight scratchyness in the throat. feeling on the one hand quite pure, but also aggressive on the stomach. has a cooling freshness, almost peppery feel on the tongue. Generally a herbal/mineral base note remains throughout.
Like a rocky mountain river - clean crisp herbal minerality - snappy, fresh and clean
Chafang Pang San Zhou
2025-02-10
The remaining sample has been resting in the cupboard since my initial tastings, which were marred by bitterness and an overall lack of enjoyment.
Surprisingly, now there's a pleasant sweetness accompanying the mineral notes upfront—perhaps influenced by brewing with the Zini pot? The bitter edge I recall from previous sessions (1-2 years ago) is absent here. However, it does emerge in later steeps (3rd/4th onwards), becoming quite pronounced, leaving a scratchy throat. This herbal-mineral bitterness again proves challenging for my stomach, even though the tea’s quality feels pure.
Short steeps help a bit to mitigate.
2025-05-12
Again I revisit this tea, this time in the Hongi Pot. The Impression is even more silky and viscous than last time. Bitterness remains, but on a comfortable level (unlike the very first sessions where it appeared to mask a lot of the brighter notes). Also, I notice more strongly then in previous session the sugary sweetness, adding a dimension of juicyness to the taste. Also I noticed a peppery fresh notes, and slight tingling on the tongue. Mineral herbal notes throughout. It does feel grown up and clean, like a solid tea. Though, bitterness may be not be for everybody’s cup, this one has good complexity and rather strong qi.