A Tea Addict's Journal

Aaron sample 1

November 7, 2007 · 2 Comments

Aaron gave me a bagload of samples to try, they’re all 2001 and they’re numbered, so I figured I’ll start with 1. These are all fairly small samples. Since the blasted electric scale died on me (this is the second one to die within a year! Damn those cheap Chinese goods) I have to go by instinct.

With sample 1 this wasn’t a problem, since there wasn’t much and I had to throw the whole thing in

There are some big leaves mixed in with some pretty broken stuff. You can already tell there’s a lot of stems in this sample when looking closely.

The tea is quite smooth, pleasant, a bit fruity, sweetish, aromatic, seems like there’s a bit of qi, but generally a little on the bland side of things. It’s a pleasant enough tea. It reminds me of a few aged-a-few-years Yiwu I’ve had, especially the Fuhai Yiwu that Davelcorp gave me — that lighter kind of stuff, not the Menghai one that I dislike with the heavy tobacco notes. The storage of this tea is “clean” i.e. non-wet, and something about this tea makes me think this is not a spring tea. The tea is durable enough though — it lasted a while.

The liquor looks about right

So do the leaves

Given the small amounts, it might’ve been more instructive if I just brewed it with those 5 minute brews, but I want to enjoy drinking this, not just evaluating. I wonder how far off I am from the reality 🙂

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2 responses so far ↓

  • davelcorp // November 7, 2007 at 11:25 pm | Reply

    Are your photos color balanced? The dry leaves look pretty brown, and the liquor looks kinda dark orange. It seems more aged in appearance than some other 2001 teas I’ve tried — the Fu Hai you mention, for instance.

  • MarshalN // November 8, 2007 at 12:55 am | Reply

    Colour has been a consistent problem at my apartment in Taiwan.

    Keep in mind though that this is something that’s been kept in Taiwan (most likely anyway) for the duration of its existence… if it looks a bit more aged than SF stored teas… it’s not a surprise.

    The leaves are indeed a bit dark.  The liquor as well. 

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