Viet Sun Y Ty air dried 2026 black tea and Wawee Tea 2026 black

 

Viet Sun T Ty black on the left, in all photos

Continuing on with Vietnamese and Thai themes I've been covering, this time it's about Viet Sun and Wawee Tea black teas.  These two versions were really exceptional.  I mean so good.  Enough with the spoilers; I'll cite some product details from their sites (or for Wawee, I'll try to turn up a Facebook page post info), and get to the review.

Y Tý Air Dried Black Spring 2026  ($21 for 100 grams, $47.50 for 250)

A really nice black tea made in the hot air dried style from one of our favorite tea areas, Y Tý.

Made from medium, old and ancient trees in the Dao village, this tea brews up into a rich copper red soup. Floral, sweet, with a malty chocolate, honey character and a low-medium roast. Rich mouthfeel and long finish.

Season: April 2026

Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves

Region: Y Tý, Lào Cai

Elevation: 1300-1800mn

Would that really have a low-medium roast input, versus just a moderate amount of oxidation?  It doesn't matter.  I probably should have read between the lines and ordered that instead of the sun-dried version that I just reviewed.  It is really nice.  The other might change for the better, given that style, but this one might still gain some depth, and it's really nice now.

Related to value around 21 cents a gram is pretty fair as pricing goes now.  Awhile back you could buy pretty decent Dian Hong for 15 cents a gram or less, but I would imagine that has shifted, as all tea pricing has.  You would be lucky to buy tea this good at whatever price it is.

There is no information post on the Wawee Tea Facebook page, as there had been for the sheng version.  It's Thai material black tea; that's all that you need to know.  I'm describing it as being made in a style similar to Yunnan Dian Hong, but that kind of judgement doesn't add much.  That generaliztion comes across differently in relation to this other Vietnamese version being a dead ringer for Dian Hong character, and flavor aspect range.

I can share their FB page cake wrapper, since it seems I forgot to take a picture of that:

That pricing relates to about $30 for 200 grams, so $15 for 100 grams instead of 21 for the Viet Sun version.  But that's Thai pricing; Viet Sun is a Western facing vendor instead.  As with the Viet Sun whether you buy the tea for 15 or 21 cents a gram you are still lucky if the tea is this good.  There are plenty of vendors out there selling teas nowhere near this good for 50 to 70 cents a gram, either making up stories to back that, or maybe some interesting stories are real, but the tea still isn't this nice.

Review:

Viet Sun Y Ty:  this is really more what I have in mind related to Dian Hong style teas, than the sun dried version I just had.  But then those pick up intensity with age, and tend to be oxidized a little less initially, so it's not fair comparing two brand new versions.  This is still really nice.

A pleasant roasted sweet potato note stands out, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to interpret the rest as tasting like cacao, but that's a judgement call.  Sweetness is good, and feel is fine, even though it's barely getting started.  It's going to be hard for the Thai version to compare well to this.

Wawee Tea black:  this is holding its own, so far.  It's completely different.  Tones are much warmer, and flavor complexity is harder to unpack; it's not just a couple of very pleasant main notes.  Dark cherry is part of it, and something like a cured wood or incense spice tone.  Often when I'm mentioning that it's about a limitation in the flavor set, but it works well in this.  It has a lot of depth, especially for just getting started.  Maybe some of the other range is spice oriented, even towards root spice or medicinal spice.  A warm mineral base is pleasant.

If judging at this stage which I like better, which is still too early to call, I'd have to go with the first version.  That standard, pleasant, well-balanced Dian Hong style is a personal favorite.  But the Thai version expresses more depth and complexity, so far, and everything it expresses is pleasant.  This should be a great comparison tasting.

I've got the proportion wrong, including less of the loose Vietnamese version, because it's hard to judge when one is loose and the other compressed.  I'll add a touch more, which will throw off how the transition cycle plays out over the next round or two.  I usually work around that by adding what looks normal to me, and it always veers back to 8 grams or so, but I tried to back off the proportion of the first, and didn't do so in the same way for the second.

VS Y Ty #2:  roasted sweet potato and cacao stand out again.  Or maybe that's yam instead, or maybe it's transitioning from sweet potato to yam.  You get the idea.  Mineral depth is pleasant; that really gives it balance.  A somewhat high sweetness level also works well with the rest.  Feel is nice, with decent fullness.  It's not dry but it also doesn't lack some feel structure.  A warmer and heavier flavor edge tastes like a touch of coffee, which mixes with the mineral range, and supports the rest.  It's really good.

Wawee:  it changed quite a bit; I would've expected that.  It's picking up a brandy-like flavor input, which is more or less the dominant flavor already.  Another part tastes like a bark spice, just not cinnamon.  Warmer mineral gives those pronounced flavors balance.  There is still fruit, more or less still in the range of dried black cherry, but it's secondary to the other range now.  Just a touch of tartness integrates well with that particular fruit range.  Ordinarily pronounced tartness makes black tea unpleasant, to me, but in a very limited amount it can be good, especially when it integrates well with the rest.

This tea is more intense than the other; the taste is stronger, and it carries over to aftertaste more.  It spans more range; it's more complex as well.  The other expresses a little more depth; there's something about it that seems to convey a deeper, more grounded taste experience.  Maybe that relates to the mineral input, or maybe it's an emergent effect that's mainly in my own interpretation, instead of the aspects themselves.

It occurs to me to keep mentioning how I like both in comparison to each other round to round; usually reviews never include that.  The Thai tea might be better in a couple of senses but the Vietnamese version really matches a style I love, so I'd go with that.  I would guess that this Thai tea is far from finished though, that it will keep evolving and changing, and will brew a long cycle, so it may seem better in one or two more senses before it's over.

back in this Bangkok home tasting space

Ina, that Siamese cat, has a cool look, but all of our cats do

VS Y Ty #3:  the warmer tones shift a little; what had been mineral and a vague earthy input changed to be closer to leather.  In a good sense; the warm and sweet tone of a new bomber jacket material, not the musty and harsher scent of older horse saddle.  Cacao stands out more than ever.  Flavor intensity is kind of in a normal range, but depth adds to the experience, in a way that's hard to describe.  For people who drink Dian Hong (Yunnan black tea) that description would already be quite familiar.  

Wawee:  fruit picks up.  It's still black cherry, but it has expanded quite a bit in range, so it's that plus something else, or more than one other thing (a little citrus enters in, and something like butternut squash flavor joins the rest).  The tartness has almost entirely dropped out.  The form of that fruit is intense, sweet, and complex, taking on a fruit roll-up sort of character.  

Incense / bark spice and mineral tone have moved into a supporting flavors role.  At this point the Wawee tea is better, per my subjective judgment, and I suppose if one tried to claim some sort of objective assessment form probably better in that sense too.  Compression level was too high in a version of this I bought 2 or 3 years ago, which really did impact the experience of it, but they've got it just right for this cake, loose enough that it comes apart easily using a pu'er knife (or pick, or whatever, maybe even just your fingers).

I've been brewing these relatively quickly, because the intensity was fine for that for both.  I might go a little longer to see what changes, from 10 seconds or so up to more than 15, or close to 20.

These are both really exceptional black teas.  I've tried some pretty good black tea versions over the past few years and both hold their own with any of it.  I've tried a lot more range over the decade prior to that, or even 15 years, but it's harder to use older experiences as a reference.

VS Y Ty #4:  it really didn't change much, for being brewed just a little longer.  Heavier mineral flavor input occurs; that's normal.  Feel comes across as thicker and richer, but it was already ok anyway.  The feel hasn't been exceptional, but the range was positive, and it supported the overall experience.  It contributes some aftertaste experience, broadening the overall effect, but not so much.  

The main positive is that the flavor range is a personal favorite, and there is nothing like a flaw in this.  Flavor intensity could be higher, but a black tea version expressing limited complexity and intensity but good depth seems to also work, for me.  The flavors a tea does express need to be what one likes, and to match well, in such a case, but that's true for me for this.  I could probably drink a kilogram of this tea, and not tire of it.

I'm probably making this sound like a basic, simple, limited intensity tea version more than really applies to it.  It is expressing some roasted sweet potato or yam flavor, something along the line of cinnamon, and depth that reminds me of root spice, along with pleasant mineral range.  It only seems to lack complexity and intensity in comparison with the other version, which is an unusually strong and complex tea.

Wawee:  the fruit effect changed again.  Now it's closer to elderberry, an interesting range.  It is a stronger tea, across most dimensions.  Flavor range is stronger, flavor complexity is broader, feel is more pronounced, and aftertaste expression is much stronger.  In part that could be because it's from better tea plant material, but it's also more completely oxidized (it seems; the leaves are a little darker, and it brews darker).  I'm not saying that to move on to claiming that the other Vietnamese tea has more aging potential, but it probably does.  It could also just be a different style.

For people into free-associating a mix of different flavor aspects there's a lot for starting points in this Thai tea version.  I do enough of that in these text reviews, but when I drink tea for my own experience only I just go quiet, and accept the experience without analysis.

This is probably a good point to leave off with notes.  These will shift a little more over two more infusions, probably with the Thai version changing more, and maintaining more intensity.  Both teas will be similar though.  

Trying the next round confirmed this.  The Thai tea is finally losing just a little intensity, and it took a round off transitioning in flavor character, with the Vietnamese tea holding up to the same earlier level of intensity and depth.  It might be that the Vietnamese tea can keep going longer for brewing out slower, that the trade-off for the Thai version was that the first 4 or 5 infusions might be better (in a limited sense; preference determines that), and stronger, but that it can't keep that up for as long.

Both are great.  Anyone would be lucky to cross paths with one of these teas.

I'm reminded of holding a tea tasting a decade or so ago, letting the guests try a black tea like one of these.  One commented that they didn't know that they liked black tea until they had that experience.  I looked back through posts to see when that was; it was here, in 2017 (and it was a Farmerleaf sun-dried Dian Hong).  I had covered a lot of ground by then, in four years of writing this blog.

In case it seems that I'm exaggerating these experiences, that every tea is just fantastic all of the time, I can point out that the last two sheng that I tried were quite good, high in quality level, distinctive, and positive, but more limited in relation to a match to my own preference.  Now with these black teas we're back to everything being just great, including that part. 

I have more ordinary versions of tea on the way; that will shift again.  In an online discussion someone mentioned that a standard, budget oriented, blended version was pretty good, from a producer I had tried teas from before, so I'll be covering a little of that range soon.  Not really low cost factory tea, but towards that theme.

one of the two other cats

Timmie with her sister

Brutal Reality Of Being Ugly

 

he looks fine

This was kind of an interesting theme and video reference, about this subject, posted by Mike Israetel, one of those weightlifting / coaching information channel guys.  It wouldn't make much sense to just convey what he said, but I'll start with that, and add some related thoughts that this brought to mind.  His Youtube post is here.   

The first half of the video is about how there is an opposite side to "pretty privilege," that ugly people live out a different kind of reality.  That sounds right.  It sounds like an awkward thing to consider or discuss at length, but in a sense that makes it interesting.

He claimed to have lived out this reality, as a 1 or 2 out of 10, on that number scale that people sometimes reference.  That's probably not right; he probably was always a 3 or a 4, and it's probably ingenuine for him to describe what the ugliest people out there experience.  Which was all what you'd expect, that it limits your success in making friends, of course in dating, and it affects others' perceptions of you related to employment, general trustworthiness, and so on.  That's probably right.

It takes a long time in the video but he goes on to say that today people can change their diet and exercise inputs, and get cosmetic surgery, and change their lot related to all of this.  Of course that works better for adults; for children they're just not going to get that surgery, and it would be hard to address most aesthetic issues through exercise.  It seems like his general point was to convey to others who feel they experienced this that they're not alone, which is kind of already obvious, but hearing someone talking through how it works might be positive.

My own take and past experiences

On to my own take on this.  I look ok, maybe above average, so I won't be saying that I endured the same thing.  I was quite short at one point in my childhood development, in part related to starting school a year ahead of others, and that surely was a challenge.  It affected how I experienced social connections, and probably shaped who I was then, and later became, to some extent.  But I don't want to overextend that parallel; I don't think it was a close match.  I didn't develop self-confidence issues but I also never learned to take appearance seriously, because for a long time I was well behind the curve.

Two separate co-workers described their experiences to me in being overweight all of their childhood, and then later losing that weight, and when I knew them looking like anyone else, who is relatively healthy.  They described it as a sort of imposter syndrome, that it stayed with them as a self-image, even though it no longer applied.  I don't think they could unpack for me how what Mike was talking about was a factor for them, but I think both were very overweight, so they were probably regarded as negative in appearance.

It's interesting that they would share this, isn't it, and that I would have this experience twice?  My mother always had something about her character that caused other people to come to her and share their life experience, in part related to having her help sort out problems, and in part just because she made a good confident.  Maybe part of that applies to me as well.  I didn't have anything to tell them to help place those feelings.  They both looked fine; I could re-affirm that.  I personally had nothing against them related to that past, and probably would have accepted them well enough as overweight, so I could add that.  I think they were just sharing it because they could though, not because I could add something to the experience, or validate them.

A little more directly, this theme reminds me of growing up in a "gifted class" circle of friends in grade school and high school.  In junior high, our version of middle school, two of the kids in that group fell into the role of outsiders, in part related to their appearance.  They were good kids; it wasn't about that.  One looked a good bit like the lead singer of Blues Traveler, a bit big, and just odd, and the other girl sort of paralleled that.  We sort of accepted them, and sort of didn't.  It's something I've felt some weight over, as years have passed.

that Blue's Traveler singer, John Popper, looks fine; it's funny how weight changes an impression

Why is that?  I wasn't particularly self-aware, as a child, but I was a decent person.  Looking back there isn't much I did that I regret, but to the extent that I might have made someone else feel uncomfortable over a long period of time seems regrettable.  My kids bringing up the subject of bullying reminds me of this.  I never bullied them, or made fun of them.  If anything I was the main point of social connection for the one girl, who obviously had a crush on me.  But my acceptance was limited; they weren't friends with me, in the same way the rest of that circle was.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this.  And that's a main part of the experience of looking back on it now; I just don't know how to place it.  I think that to me it represents a gap in awareness of what was going on around me.  Most of what I experienced related to gaps; I wasn't clearly placing much of everything well as a child.

It's interesting considering Mike Israetel's assertion that a 1 or 2 on a scale of 10 experiences things differently.  I doubt he was experiencing that.  He looks a little unconventional now, related to being so jacked up, bald, and developing muscle on his skull.  But he looks like he's probably of average attractiveness, kind of symmetrical, and not otherwise unusual.  I don't doubt that there was more to it back then, like a weight issue, or that he could've had a look that it took time to grow into.  But it seems like that negative assessment might relate to a story he has told himself over and over, rather than an accurate assessment of a lived experience.

It's a little sad hearing a description of how some kids would have trouble with basic things, like making friends.  I think that's right.  My kids were so cute as young children, and they still struggled from time to time, in new circumstances.  I never really gave it much thought how much worse that could've been.

How to change appearance; his conclusions

I was wondering where he was going with all of this, since talking for 15 minutes about how unattractive people have it rough isn't really saying much.  People already get that.  Not the details, but they know it.

He ended by saying that anyone could become fit now, which seems right, and that people can radically change appearance through cosmetic surgery.  In a sense this last part doesn't work.  To put a context to that he suggested that someone might get significant appearance changing work done for on the order of $20,000.  That's probably right.  It wouldn't be enough to change a few different appearance issues, and a nose job and hair transplant might cost that much, but a couple of significant appearance changes could make a big difference.

It's that cost that's a concern.  Most people have no access at all to that kind of funding in their childhood or teens, and many wouldn't be able to save up that amount until their late 20s, or some never could.  It doesn't work to say that anyone could simply change appearance by the age of 30, long after they've already endured all of the problems at the main critical life phases.  I suppose for people in the wealthiest 10 to 20% a teen getting a nose job would be an option, and could seem normal.  So appearance improvement is pay to win, to use my son's manner of speaking.

I just noticed I was eating ice cream beside a cosmetic surgery clinic in Bangkok, and was surprised some basic prices were so affordable.  A nose job was about 16,000 baht, a little over $500, and liposuction right at 300.  I think that a lot of younger people probably do get those sorts of things done.  You could do cardio and improve your diet for years and never get the same results liposuction could provide, all but immediately.  They do abdominal sculpting now, including a few indentations in your fat that looks like you are starting to show abs, when it's really not that.

So maybe it works better here, to say that you can make a change?  The catch is that salaries are a lot lower; starting wages for college grads start at 15,000 per month or so, or $500 per month.  Saving up an entire month's wages could be difficult, when your budget is already stretched pretty thin.  Then again so many people have $1500 phones, so it could just come down to priorities.

There's really no way to wrap up or conclude all of this, a set of different tangents on this theme.  It's interesting how it all maps out.

Bangkok Chinatown Xin Ban Zhang and Viet Sun Tua Chua

 

Jip Eu Xin Ban Zhang left, in all photos

interesting how pale the XBZ is, and how dark the Viet Sun tea is

I'm reviewing and comparing two interesting looking tea versions from completely different sources and areas.  One is a third version of sheng from Viet Sun, the other reportedly from a village near the famous Lao Bahn Zhang origin, given to me by the owner of my favorite Bangkok Chinatown shop, Kittichai of Jip Eu.

Let's start with the Viet Sun description, from here:

Tủa Chùa Tall Trees Maocha Autumn 2024 (it had been $30 for 100 grams, but it's sold out now)

A tea from the most sought after tea area in Vietnam, Tủa Chùa in Điện Biên province.

This area can be difficult to source tea from due to the high local and international demand. We were lucky to get a bit from a collector who has been aging this batch since 2024.

This area has some of the biggest tea trees in Vietnam and many are allowed to grow tall. This area is close to Laos and has a different climate than many other tea areas in Vietnam giving teas from here a unique profile. It it very dry and sunny for much of the year here.

This area is known for its signature orchid/ citrus flower fragrance with a citrus, fruity, forest almost tobacco range of flavor. This tea brews up quickly into a rich golden brew. Low-medium bitterness and astringency with heavy sweetness. Strong floral huigan that will start to build after a few cups.

Note that I'm not carrying through the correct accent variations in this area name.  It's a bit disrespectful to the language form, but that doesn't add any meaning for anyone outside of Vietnam, and I am writing this in English.

This huigan effect gets mentioned in this review, but it built up from being a significant effect from both teas (seemingly), so if anything it was a bit much.

There is no listing for the Bangkok Chinatown sheng pu'er, of course, but this listing from Yunnan Sourcing passes on background about the area:

2012 Yunnan Sourcing "Xin Ban Zhang" Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

First flush of spring 2012 material from 60 to 100 year old wild arbor tea trees growing in Xin Ban Zhang village. Xin Ban Zhang is the neighbor village to Lao Ban Zhang and the tea from here shares much character with Lao Ban Zhang tea. The bitterness is a bit more persistent with Xin Ban Zhang. The leaf structure, mouth-feel and aroma is much the same. An intense cha qi accompanies the drinking experience. This intensity is the perfect fuel to transform this tea through the years.

That lists for $439 for a 400 gram cake; so much for ever trying that.  They sell a 10 gram portion for $17, so that's not so much buy-in just to try it.

We can't really draw any parallels between teas only sharing a village origin name, but this other version might be from wild arbor material, and we might expect significant bitterness, and a floral nature.  It wasn't bitter in the way described, but there's more on that in the review notes.

I found a small England based vendor selling a cake version from there, which they describe in comparable ways (that sounds pretty good):

Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh (2019, listed for 36 pounds for a 200 gram cake, equivalent to $95 for 400 grams)

Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh is a 2019 vintage raw pu-erh harvested from 100-200 year old tea trees in Xin Ban Zhang Village. Compressed into 200g cakes, it is a smooth tea with a complex mouthfeel. The sweet fruity flavour has a tannic base with a lasting citrus aftertaste.

...Authenticity and pricing issues aside, Lao Ban Zhang pu-erh is highly regarded for the powerful characteristics of the tea as well as the history of production in the area that goes back over 500 years. By contrast Xin Ban Zhang pu-erh has not gained such notoriety and presents a much better quality to price proposition.

Xin Ban Zhang Sheng Pu-erh raw pu-erh comes pressed in small 200g cakes and displays a complex bold mouthfeel with rich multi-layered flavours. It produces a clean liquor with a fruity and lightly woody aroma. This sheng delivers the expected strong character and lively Cha Qi. There are mineral and woody umami flavours and notes of hay, dried exotic fruits, apricot kernels and yuzu zest. The interplay between savoury and sweet flavours then progresses onto a lasting sweet yet lightly tannic finish.

Some of that overlaps with these notes on this version. They don't even mention bitterness, which would make sense with that input being moderate for this Xin Ban Zhang version I'm reviewing.  Probably that's an old listing, relating to availability and pricing from 6 or 7 years ago, but it's still interesting as an area and type reference.

Usually I don't show packaging, since there isn't much story value there, but it's interesting the Chinatown version was pre-packaged in relatively small amounts.  I should have asked how much they were selling that for; maybe I'll add it in a later edit.

Review:

Jip Eu Sin Bahn Zhang:  there's an interesting heavy mineral tone to this, with some connection to vegetal range, and also quite a bit of complex floral range.  It's interesting that it would start out so strong; this is barely wetted yet.  I'll add more of a list next time; I'm rushing this.  Thinking back, during editing, it's hard to say how rushing the review--related to having limited time, since my wife got back to town later in the morning--affected my impression and what I wrote.

Viet Sun Tua Chua:  richer and deeper flavors, also with significant warmer mineral tone, but warmer floral range, and probably a good bit of fruit.  They're not exactly similar, but it's interesting how category themes overlap, even though the aspects themselves don't.  These are both really nice teas.  How the light mineral and limited vegetal range in the other one evolves will determine how good it is, and for this one it just needs to fill in a bit of intensity, since the rest is already fine.

XBZ #2:  more of the same, just way more intense, even though I brewed these fast, under 10 seconds, and the proportion isn't that high (maybe 7 or 8 grams, in a 100 ml device, so just normal for me, but still a bit high).  Mineral sort of stands out the most, which is unusual.  It connects to both vegetal range and floral range, maybe with floral tones standing out more.  Mineral is more intense though, heavy, but in a lighter taste range form.  Sweetness is good, pronounced, it helps the rest balance well.  

It comes across as reasonably refined, and definitely complex and intense.  Aftertaste carries over, and significant bitterness is at a level that balances well.  It's nice.  Maybe it misses a little of that solid blast of floral range of other LBZ that I've tried, but it's not completely dis-similar.  Bitterness plays a different role, but that part is complicated.  There's a hint of dryness, that pairs with the heavy mineral effect.  It's not unpleasant, but it is a little unusual.

VS Tua Chua:  mineral picks up in this, along the line of the scent of an artesian well, almost leaning towards soapiness, but not quite to that.  It's unique.  Tones are warm; sweetness is good, and warm floral tone and some fruit stand out.  It's clean in effect.  Feel is rich and aftertaste intensity is good.  It's a bit less bitter, but that's moderate for both, really.

I really like this style of sheng, the way that warm tones, rich flavors, and complexity all combine together.  Maybe a year and a half of aging brought it to this kind of balance point.  It has depth; the flavor seems strong, but it runs deep more than it's a forward facing rich flavor range.  Of course the effect in the other is kind of opposite; the lighter tones stand out, even though the lighter mineral does express good depth.

Jip Eu Xin Bang Zhang #3:  interesting!  Not so different than the other rounds.  This mineral range stands out as much as any tea I've ever tried.  Floral range is pronounced.  You have to like pretty strong tea to get this, but for a sheng drinker that's a selling point, a positive feature.  A hint of dryness come across as feel structure, matching the mineral range.

VS TC:  warmer, richer tones.  Heavy mineral is also pronounced in this, just in a deeper range, maybe at a slightly lower level (relating to intensity, but I do tend to use a spatial analogy for which aspects seem more forward and what represents depth, at times).  This has a perfume-like quality, the kind of theme that often applies to really good Wuyi Yancha oolong.  It's often along the line of cognac, how it comes across, but it can be also be more aromatic, resembling perfume, as in this case.

Both of these are intense enough that a flash infusion of both should be interesting and pleasant, maybe not backing off too much intensity, but trying them as light as they can be.

Jip Eu XBZ #4:  it's still really intense, flash brewed.  Sweetness still stands out, and mineral base.  Again mineral is the strongest aspect, so it doesn't come across as a grounding base, as typically occurs.  Feel lightens in the sense of dryness shifting a bit to richness.  It's not really astringent in a conventional sense, but it definitely has structure.  This doesn't really remind me of other tea versions that I've tried; that mineral forward character is unique.

VS TC:  much richer and warmer, but again it's funny how heavy floral themes and pronounced mineral echo the other tea, but in a completely different form.  This does seem a bit like natural growth tea versions I've tried before.  

Flavor range is a little unconventional, which is actually typical, heavy on floral range bordering on fruit, with some unique spice input.  Some sort of novel root spice, I guess that would be, maybe not completely different than turmeric.  The feel isn't as challenging as in turmeric, and it comes across much differently as a balanced part of other flavor range, than turmeric itself.  Someone else might interpret this as resembling an incense spice, or it could also include that, and a half dozen unique flavors might balance against each other.  

In the Viet Sun website description one part is described as tasting like tobacco, and this aspect range I'm struggling to place might relate to that.  

A different interpretation could see this as resembling fruit.  The heavy mineral, sweetness, and overall complexity leave it open to lots of different interpretations.  Feel is rich, and somewhat full, but not at all challenging.  Both of these teas contribute good aftertaste experience, which can seem a bit much taken together.  Drinking two relatively intense, sweet, mineral intensive, complex teas together can be a bit overstimulating.  Either or these would be fine for a nice extended 45 minute session.

Both teas mentioned strong huigan or aftertaste expression in their descriptions (or at least the type-typical nature of Xin Ban Zhang is described in that way in other references cited).  It definitely applies for both of these.

Combined notes on the fifth infusion:  things got too busy to keep up detailed notetaking; my wife returned from Hawaii this morning, so there's a lot of running around and shouting.

Both transitioned to include an interesting new flavor note.  For the Sin Bahn Zhang it was a touch of mint, and for the Tua Chua menthol.  It's interesting how these are relatively completely different teas, but the aspects that they express parallel each other, just in quite different form.  They're both pretty good too.  This kind of hectic review form isn't good for trying to narrow that down, and combined tasting has been interesting, but it's a lot to take in, trying two teas that are this different.

Conclusions:

A few general comparisons might help place these teas, beyond the aspects descriptions.  They both seem to be of good quality, and I can't really use more description of that to place them.

The Xin Ban Zhang tea doesn't seem so close to Lao Bahn Zhang character, but not completely different.  Those--that I've tried, which shared a lot of character range--are marked by pronounced floral tones, which is almost fruity, within a certain bright and rich range, good sweetness, and pleasant bitterness, not really light or heavy, but in a good balancing form.  Lots of sheng expresses a light mineral base, but it's almost never in as primary an aspect form as for this Xin Bahn Zhang version, as a main thing that you taste.  This tea evolved positively, but not really for a long extended cycle, related to it starting to draw out a bit more vegetal bitterness not too long after these rounds, a green wood sort of flavor marking the end of the most pleasant range of the brewing cycle.

It's hard comparing the Viet Sun Tua Chua to the other Y Ty versions I've just tried.  It's a little older, a part I didn't remember from the order, a year and a half old per the label, versus being new.  Tones were definitely warmer, and it lacked that bright freshness of new maocha (which just means loose sheng, in this usage).  It was really complex, and flavor range was distinctive.  

It also might not have lasted as long as those other two versions, although I didn't brew these out completely, at time of writing these notes.  It was great for novelty; more natural growing conditions sheng tends to often express different flavor range, and this represented that.  I'm probably indirectly referring here to "wild" plants that have drifted some in genetic range, versus an input from having other plant types around, although who really knows about any of that.  The tea is however it is, and the rest is as much story line as reliable cause and effect.

So these were really nice, and especially unique.  These reviews sometimes seem to go in cycles, and I seem to claim that everything was just amazing for review after review, or else more ordinary, as a running pattern.  These were exceptional, but the other two Y Ty versions stood out even more, to me.  And the last Wawee Thai sheng I reviewed represented a personal favorite style, and a good version of one at that.

For teas this complex and unique I will probably experience them differently over multiple tastings, and these notes will only work well for a snapshot of a first impression.  For that reason rushing this particular tasting isn't for the best, because I was already trying to cover a lot of novel ground with them.  

Even though I'm saying that I probably liked the other Y Ty and Wawee teas more these are definitely worth trying, and represent two other very unique styles.  More flavorful and distinctive natural growth origin teas are a completely different kind of thing (the Tua Chua version), and this Xin Ban Zhang version was unlike pretty much anything else I've ever tried, related to mineral range being so intense.  It wasn't necessarily too strong, but it didn't play the normal supporting role in that taste experience.

Wawee Tea 2026 sheng (Thai pu'er-style tea)

 

I'm reviewing a tea version that's an old favorite, Thai sheng from Wawee Tea.  It's what Thai sheng should be:  high in quality level, made from great material, distinctive, pleasant in flavor, and intense.  There probably isn't much tea coming out of Thailand like this, and essentially no other versions I'd probably like more (although Aphiwat's is really nice too).  

I love the style.  Others might or might not; it would just depend on preference.

There's not a website post to cite, but I can mention their Facebook page post about it, from their FB page:

The long dry spell from winter to April has resulted in this year's tea having a richer, more fragrant flavor.

The tea wrapping paper features tribal patterns from the villagers of Wawei, who are the main workforce helping us harvest the tea leaves.

Raw Pu-erh Tea (生普洱), Spring Tea Season 2026

100% from large-tree tea (古樹茶)

200 gram compressed cake

990 THB per cake, 5 cakes in a bamboo bundle 4,950 THB

It seems like I should be gatekeeping this.  They don't sell overseas anyway, per my understanding, so I guess mentioning this is for Thais, or people who live "here" (since I'm in Bangkok again now).

Them selling that for around $30 for a 200 gram cake is an example of local Thai pricing; in a Western facing outlet it would be more.  I just bought pretty good Vietnamese tea for around double that from Viet Sun, and this tea holds its own against that.  Maybe in terms of my preference I like it a little more; it is a personal favorite.  

At least my blog is read by a lot more AI bots than humans; that will help reduce the potential exposure impact.  Maybe I won't share links to this as much to keep going in that direction.

Review:

First infusion:  a little strong, because I gave this over 30 seconds to get it started, so I'm not writing about how it will really open up next round.  It's good.  There's plenty of fruit flavor, some vegetal range, and a good bit of astringency structure, but of the right type.  Bitterness stands out.  This is just how it should start.  It'll work better to do a flavor list and say more about the rest next round, in a typical faster infusion.

Make no mistake though, you can tell this is really nice right away.  Intensity is right, sweetness is great, and flavor range is just what you would hope for.  You don't find teas like this by accident.  Years of looking in the right kind of places have to come together, after looking in the wrong kinds of places.  You can frame that as karma if you like, that spiritual forces are looking out for you.  It doesn't change much if you do.

Second infusion:  a 5 second infusion brews just as strong; that's how this should be.  Intensity stands out most.  At times you run across older plant source material that's more subtle, but with great depth, that's really approachable, but that lasts for lots of infusions, and changes in positive ways.  This isn't that.  It's intense from the start.  Fruit stands out, it's just hard to say which.  It's along the line of lychee or mango, or it could be a sweet form of pineapple.  

Vegetal flavor is there, a green wood sort of range, or maybe that could map to something else, like bitter melon.  I've been eating a lot of bitter melon, from our garden in Honolulu, and you mostly taste bitterness from that.  This is bitter, but to me the type and level is great.

Depth, intensity, balance, aftertaste expression; it's all great.  To be clear this is at least partly because I already love their style of tea.  I've drank at least a couple of cakes of this, and it's fantastic getting back to it.  I like it young too, like this, not necessarily transitioned by age, but this would be really good over the next few years, as it keeps changing.  

If I tasted the same green wood / vegetal input in a different context I wouldn't like it.  But to me it integrates perfectly with the rest, and adds to a very intense overall experience, that is just how it should be.  I've been drinking some of Aphiwat's tea as 2 or 3 year old versions, ones I've had around, and it's much approachable after the transition, but I don't like it as much.  It's down to personal preference.  

I finished this round a couple of minutes ago and the sweetness really lingers along my tongue, that had transitioned from bitterness; it's partly about that.  You can emphasize this kind of experience by drinking water between rounds; it comes across as very sweet.  But it's also nice to let the experience build up in your sense of taste, getting stronger and stronger.

Third infusion:  I can't really unpack that fruit input more; it's still either lychee or mango, but seemingly a mix of a lot of related tropical fruit input.  Warmth seems to pick up a little.  Sweetness and intensity are still great, of course.  This really hits your palate hard, in a good way.  Only a sheng drinker would love this bitterness level as I do.  Some sheng is even more bitter, but this is pronounced.

To me this is the kind of tea you can have every day for as long as you want, for weeks.  The experience is so positive that it doesn't get old.  I suppose that has more to do with a status of being a favorite than how general character themes play out.  

A good black tea is much more approachable, and in some sense it would make more sense with food.  I'll very often have this kind of tea with food, intense young Thai sheng, along the line of what I ate today, scrambled eggs with spinach and a Thai vegetable plant leaf, and a mix of orange, banana, and papaya.  More often I'll add a starch input, a croissant or some other pastry, but lately I've been letting that drop.  Yogurt with the fruit is also nice, and that protects your stomach.  I feel ok without having included it, just now.

Fourth infusion:  warm tones might pick up further, and this might be even more intense.  I walked around looking for the cat between infusions, noticing that the aftertaste never really drops out, it stays with you.  

Fifth infusion:  this isn't changing much, and certainly isn't fading.  Feel might be picking up some extra richness, and the fruit has transitioned to a slightly different complex fruit range.  It's a little towards that juicyfruit gum flavor.  It would make sense for a natural interpretation to include citrus, a bright version of it, in between lemon and tangerine.  Or maybe just to see it as tangerine.  Intensity is still nice, but that depends on someone loving bitterness--at this level--and intensity.

they were running free all morning, but she was messing with them a little too

they're all so cute, but that darkened face look is really something

Sixth infusion:  I haven't mentioned an inconsistency in the coloration of the leaves.  Parts were probably left exposed to wither longer, or may have been crushed while being picked, leading to faster oxidation.  Or inconsistent heating could roast some a little.  The two effects would be different, and if both occurred then complexity would enter in, which I guess someone could interpret as coming at a cost.  But the complexity of this tea is a strength, as I see it.  Intensity definitely also is; if those somewhat atypical inputs changed character they certainly didn't limit how intense the experience is.  They might even give it a nice balance.

It could have more warm range than it ordinarily should, for at this age.  But that's a good thing; it all matches and integrates well.  It's definitely not missing brighter range, or sweetness.  I drank a cake that was a lot like this pretty fast 2 or 3 years ago, from them, loving it so much that half my tea drinking rotation was that version.

Seventh infusion:  this is finally losing a little intensity, but that really only brings it into a more normal range.  I'm still brewing it really fast, around 5 seconds.  I've pushed the infusion proportion, which is normal for me, maybe at 8 grams for a 100 ml gaiwan, or it could even be 9.

Warmth picks up.  That has been a gradual trend for the past 4 or 5 infusions.  Feel structure is really nice, less sharp and edgy than initially, but it was never really negative.  Now it's richer, more full, but still intense.  

Fruit is pretty heavy on citrus.  I'm surely missing a lot of potential association for the flavors; this is complex.  Mineral effect probably keeps shifting.  That's probably a lot of what is causing me to perceive that the tone as warming.  It was probably bright and lighter mineral range earlier on, and now it's on to warmer tones, not completely unlike tasting a copper penny.  Probably an interpretation of the main range as including floral tone is reasonable, maybe jasmine.

Eighth infusion:  I let this go for over 15 seconds to try it stronger, but I think I know how that will work out.  It's just a little more intense, and back to potentially challenging.  Astringency pairs with a mineral tone in a way that's a bit much, but the effect is still quite pleasant.  It's this kind of intensity that differentiates pu'er from other tea types.  You can't brew other types to draw it out at this level even if you wanted to, and with young sheng you are often brewing around it, using different form to limit it.  It's delicious, and the overall experience is great.

This is exactly how I hoped this tea would be.  It's nice when it works out like that.  In some cases teas can be even better than you hoped, more novel, or positive in a different way, but I wouldn't want this to be different in any way.

Ninth infusion:  some of this tea seems to be exhibiting the "brewed out" green wood bitterness and astringency aspect, but it seems like different leaves that are processed differently might be transitioning and reacting differently.  It's still quite good, but that will probably keep picking up, and it will be less pleasant after the next couple of rounds.  It has been a nice infusion cycle though.

I did drink this tea again the next day, the day I'm editing this.  It was nice not giving any thought to a flavor list breakdown, or other aspects, and just enjoying it.

Viet Sun Y Ty sun dried black tea (Dian Hong style)

 

I'm reviewing a black tea version from that last Viet Sun order.  I love Vietnamese, Thai, and Laos black teas, that are often more or less made in the Yunnan / Dian Hong style.  It's the type that I've bought the largest quantity of in single orders, buying more than a kg of a Thai and Vietnamese version over the last few years (each, per only one large order of each).  

It's great as an everyday tea, something to have with breakfast.  It probably doesn't work rolling together everything made in a few countries as all one thing, so that generality really requires a bit of interpretation, that I won't waste words on here.  Some teas are like that.  Not really better than above average Dian Hong versions, but along the same line.

It could sound like I'm exaggerating how much I love different teas in reviews, given how my impression is often consistently positive.  I guess those Thai and Laos sheng from Rishi didn't work out like that; they were good, but with significant limitations.  This black tea was favorable but also not completely exceptional.  I think it might have aging potential, which tends to be expressed over a couple of years, so it wouldn't take the 20 to 25 year cycle that sheng pu'er does to change.  It's all covered in the review notes.  This is the vendor description:

Y Tý Sun Dried Black Spring 2026  ($21 for 100 grams; a good price, but still kind of standard)

A really nice black tea made in the sun dried style from one of our favorite tea areas, Y Tý.

Made from old and ancient trees in the Dao village, this tea brews up into a rich copper red soup. Floral, fruity, sweet and layered with a light bitterness, rich mouthfeel and long finish.

Season: April 2026

Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves

Region: Y Tý, Lào Cai

Elevation: 1300-1800m

It's interesting seeing 2025 versions still selling on their site.  It goes without saying but you can't really compare a 2025 or 2024 version of the same tea (apparently from the same origin and producer), and expect aging input to be the only difference.  Tea versions vary year to year, across pretty much all types and producers.  Weather is just too much of an input, and other factors would come into play.  But whatever differences you do experience could be interesting, and trying to see what you make of it could be pleasant.

Review:

First infusion:  I brewed this a little long to get it going, something like 30 seconds.  Taste is great.  Sweetness is nice, and there is plenty of flavor complexity to unpack.  Interpretations would vary, a lot, but to me it tastes like fruit (a little like dried dark cherry), with some earthier tree bark range, and a sun-dried tomato savory input.  There's also just about as much cacao as all of that.  

There's a standard black tea flavor range that isn't always a main input in Yunnan style black teas, a sort of "tastes like tea" flavor, which I guess is actually complex and hard to describe.  This includes that.  It's not so far from well-cured leather range, like a bomber jacket might smell, but of course it's not exactly that.  Sweetness is good but this could be sweeter.  Feel is fine, but nothing unusual.

Second infusion:  a woody sort of input picks up.  This isn't exactly a fruit heavy black tea version, which can come up with this style range.  It's not unusual for versions like this, that are backed off in oxidation level, to pick up sweetness, depth, and even intensity over the course of a couple of years.  This is relatively fully oxidized, or rather that input seems to be mixed, from leaf color, and some of it is.  It should still have good aging potential.  It's just a guess, just my own take, but I think there's no reason to ever hold onto teas like this for more than 3 or 4 years, that it doesn't keep changing and improving.  It's fine now though.

I brewed this round on the light side, to see what that changed, and it changes things, which flavor aspects come across, and the feel.  I'll try it brewed longer next round, for over 20 seconds.

I'm trying this on the morning after a heavy rain, the day after a kind of rough three day audit (my work).  I didn't even do the audit, or serve as a main subject, I was in a management oversight sort of role.  It was still a lot, still tiring.  It has been rough getting back to commuting, working onsite, and that location added an extra distance beyond our offices.  That site was pretty fantastic, but I don't want to add too much about work themes here, so I'll not say why.

Third infusion:  limited sweetness would be a limitation for this tea, for many, expecting standard Dian Hong style.  But it's good.  It comes across a little closer to good orthodox Assam than SE Asian black tea versions usually do.  Maybe there is a touch of malt in this, but I don't mean mostly because of that.  That taste like a standard black tea range is part of it, and this limited sweetness level.  Feel is standard, not overly rich, or dry, but a conventional, structured, slightly dry black tea feel matches really good Assam.

It's odd how this is one of the first versions of SE Asian black tea that malt works for.  You feel that structure on your tongue as well, what you would expect to pair with the malt, leather, and leaning towards wood flavor aspects.  Even sweetness can pick up sometimes when aging less oxidized black teas, so this might be a good bit different in even one year.  Not much would probably still be around; I bought 100 grams of it, I think.  

I'm still working with a limited tea budget, but as I'll be mentioning that still related to buying tea three times already this year (the Vietnamese Quang Tom versions, the Thai and Laos sheng cakes from Rishi, and now these).  More Thai sheng is on the way, and Thai black tea, and a couple of inexpensive cakes from Chen Sheng Hao.  Someone mentioned one of their lower cost cakes being good, and it was too tempting to pass up.  They're better known for higher end, higher quality blends, and for Lao Ban Zhang.  I tried a sampler set from them a couple of years ago, covering more of that; it was good.

Fourth infusion:  richness picks up.  The flavor range doesn't shift enough to add a new list.  It's nice so much complexity is there, the cacao, touch of vague fruit, malt, wood, etc.  A sweeter flavor input and more fruit or cacao would really make this stand out, or more depth in a sense that's hard to describe.  For Dian Hong often that covers a range like roasted sweet potato or yam.  If someone was looking for that this would seem more like yam.  Interpretations would vary.

The dryness is interesting, since it comes across as a feel structure, not a flaw.  This would be fantastic tea to have with breakfast.  In a way that's an insult, like saying a version would be good with milk, or a Scotch whiskey would be good with coke, but of course that's how I'm drinking most of the tea I ever drink.  Five days a week I wouldn't have time for extended morning or afternoon sessions, now that I work during the day again.  It was really nice working from 4 to midnight back in Hawaii; it sort of stretched out the day.  But any work schedule works better without two or more hours going towards commuting.

Fifth infusion:  dried fruit might be picking up a little; that's nice.  There is a nice depth to this tea, it's just not in exactly the form I expected.  In Dian Hong deeper tones can tie to mineral, or fruit or cacao range, or to roasted yam or sweet potato aspects.  Here that malt and mineral seems to connect with what comes across as an underlying taste context.  With just a little more sweetness it would all connect together better.  Someone really could add a little sugar, but I wouldn't.  

For someone who loves good orthodox Assam this might really ring a bell.  It's sort of in between that range and normal Dian Hong.  Astringency is limited, of course, the dryness or edgy feel structure.  Intensity is good but still moderate.  Complexity is fine but the aspects could balance together differently.  I suspect a year or two of aging will resolve a lot of that, and it will be much improved.  For a lot of people it could seem off-putting or problematic to buy a tea to drink in a year or two, but for sheng drinkers maybe it's already familiar ground.  

I wouldn't buy the Y Ty moacha I just reviewed to hold onto though; it's so good now that drinking straight through it would make a lot of sense.  I have just a little of a version from two years ago, from one of these villages; maybe I'll do a comparison.  I think this year's teas were a little better than then though, so maybe it's not a completely fair comparison. 

Sixth infusion:  this is a good tea for drinking a full cycle of rounds, apparently.  It's the most positive it has been, as the last round also was, and I'm not stretching infusion times by that much to keep up intensity.  A warm cacao oriented note picks up, and depth improves.  In a lot of teas a certain mineral flavor range or astringency will come forward a lot more in late rounds, something that brews out more in longer steeps, when a lot of the other positive range has passed through, and has already been extracted.  This doesn't pick up astringency, or strong mineral range, at all.  But then I'm not stretching the time yet either, although next round will be when that applies, and it will need 45 seconds or so instead of around 30 to keep up intensity.

Aftertaste trails on a little more; that's one part of what I mean by the experience of depth.  The other relates to how the warm mineral tones and the flavor come across, as spanning a lot of range.

All in all a pretty good tea.  At this point it feels atypical not commenting that it's absolutely fantastic, as with the other Y Ty sheng versions I just reviewed.  Maybe I expected that, for this to be amazing.  It's pretty good, as Dian Hong style versions go, but only a bit above average, at least at this stage.  

For Dian Hong drinkers that's already a pretty good range to fall in.  For orthodox Assam drinkers this might be much better, a real revelation, since it falls between norms for those two types.  It's missing the heavier malt expression, so depending on expectations maybe that could seem like a big gap instead.  In a year or two this might be much better; it will be interesting to see.

Viet Sun Y Ty Dao and H'Mong Village 2026 Vietnamese sheng

 

I'm reviewing the first of a small order of Viet Sun teas, mostly to try this year's sheng versions, and a couple of black teas.  They are a favorite tea source, with good Vietnamese versions a favorite tea category, especially related to sheng (pu'er-style teas).

I've mentioned Viet Sun a bit in recent posts, in one talking about how a bias towards favorite vendors might factor in.  In another interview post Steve of Viet Sun and Seth (a Vietnamese tea researcher) a lot of related background is discussed, about changes in tea styles and production inputs there.

Back to the topic at hand, these teas seemed really good.  I've liked Viet Sun's sheng versions in the past, but everything came together well for both (quality levels seemed unusually high), and the flavor profile of one really matched my own preferences.  I'm not sure why they seemed so exceptional.  Favorable weather, good material to begin with, favorable processing skill development?

Here are the vendor site listings (edited down slightly; not cited in their entirety):

Y Tý Dao Village Maocha Spring 2026 ($33 for 100 grams)

Ancient tree maocha from Y Tý.

Y Tý is a beautiful tea area in Lào Cai province right on the border with China. There are two villages that have old tea trees here, one is inhabited by H’Mông people and the other Dao.

This tea is from the Dao village. Although only a couple kilometers apart, this area has more rocky soil and more windy, dry days than the H’Mông village. The leaves are also brighter green than the trees in the other area. Tea trees in Y Tý have especially beautiful leaves.

This year our friend did some exploring and found a couple more ancient tea tree gardens growing nearby the gardens where our tea was from last year. These gardens are quite high in elevation for Assamica trees and this tea shows off it's "alpine" character.

This tea brews up slowly into a rich golden brew. Heavily sweet with notes of cane sugar and meadow flowers with a light herbal character. Strong mineral note with low bitterness and astringency. Lasting huigan and strong relaxing qi.

Great longevity, set aside an hour if possible to fully enjoy this one.

Season: April 2026

Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves

Region: Y Tý, Lào Cai

Elevation: 1700-1800m

Y Tý H'Mông Village Maocha Spring 2026  ($33 for 100 grams)

This tea is from the H’Mông village. Although only a couple kilometers apart, this area has more clay rich soil and more humid days than the Dao village. The leaves are also darker than the trees in the other area. Tea trees in Y Tý have especially big and beautiful leaves.

This tea brews up into a rich dark golden brew. I get cane sugar, herbs, deep forest and floral/ fruity notes. This tea also features a pleasant minerality with heavy sweetness, low-medium bitterness and astringency. Deep and layered huigan and strong relaxing qi.

Of course my interpretation of individual flavors varies some; that's always the case.  I identified a good bit of fruit in the first tea, and less (but some) in the second, the opposite of these descriptions.  That's how flavor descriptions go; it's not exactly completely subjective, but no two interpretations would tend to be identical.

Those prices (which are the same) relate to a standard 357 gram cake costing $118.  That's a bit, but then this is exceptional tea, and the market pricing for it at the producer level could be higher than for more average versions.  

I looked up what it sold for in the past, in 2024, and it was $31 for 100 grams then, so recent inflation or demand shift isn't a main cause for that high-medium pricing range.  I bought two different year's cakes of a Son La version, and checked that it sold for 21 cents a gram in 2023, sold then as a 370 gram cake (so it would've been $78).  I really liked that tea (it's essentially all gone now), but in a side by side tasting it would stand out that these were / are both better.  But then the extra edginess, astringency, and bitterness in that tea wasn't entirely negative, to me, not really relating to flaws, instead just style difference.

Review:

Dao:  just wonderful!  Even though it's barely started infusing yet.  Bright, sweet floral notes stand out, but that could as easily transition to fruit, or may already be both.  Tasting it again it's both.  Light and sweet floral range (maybe orchids?) is joined by a good bit of sweet fruit (pretty close to fresh lychee).  It's so good.

H'Mong:  more subtle, at this stage, but it has great character, for what is showing through.  It has a good bit of depth for being so light, not really fully wetted yet.  Sweetness is good, and more vague floral or fruit range is there, just not strong enough to work well as a list yet.  A touch of vegetable flavor integrates well, along the line of sugar snap peas.  It will be interesting seeing how it all changes next round.

Dao #2:  maybe I'm out of practice breaking down flavor aspects.  This is just great, but it still tastes mostly floral and fruity to me.  I suppose lychee does stand out.  That is my overall favorite fruit too; fresh versions can be just amazing.  There are different types, but even the ones that taste more sweet than anything else are still great.  Feel is satisfying for this, with a little thickness, giving a sensation of your mouth watering.  It's not really conventional sheng astringency, in terms of being rough or challenging.  A light mineral base grounds it all more than you notice at first.  The sweetness, and its role, does stand out.  Aftertaste is nice, not a long as that can be, but quite significant.

H'Mong:  this is pleasant too.  There's a brightness to these that's hard to describe, an edge that really fresh but fully ripe fruit possesses.  They really pop.  It's a shame that more people don't experience fresh sheng like this more, since it comes up online that it all always needs aging.  This is so far removed from rough factory sheng character, it's the difference between a pretty good tin of English Breakfast tea and a really good whole leaf, second flush Darjeeling version.  It's a different kind of thing.  

This is mostly floral, with that faint edge of vegetal range filling in depth.  If that was closer to straight grass it would seem like a flaw, but as it's similar to fresh sugar snap pea it's nice.  Feel might be a little thicker in this, with good sweetness and aftertaste carry-over.  To me the other version really shines, because I love that prominent lychee flavor, but both are quite nice.

I could mention that it's my first time having tea back in Bangkok, beyond a rushed and groggy experience of a more standard version yesterday.  It's my first time preparing it outside; yesterday I woke up too late, and the heat was kicking in.  The kids and I were up at 4:30 AM today, related to going to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 (them a little later).  So we hung out a little with cats, then got on with the day, which for them relates to playing online.  

It's 28 C / 82 F and 78% humidity out here, at 7:20 AM.  Yesterday we walked around to do some errands, including picking up the car, and it was much hotter.  Maybe doing walking errands helped Keo and I acclimate, or maybe we just got scorched on the way to restock food and have a car again.

Dao #3:   warmth and depth picks up in this.  I let it brew longer, in part related to typing here.  It works well stronger.  Bitterness is present, but it's very limited, and feel is smooth and full.  It's probably partly related to settling back into my life here, appreciating everything all the more, but this is one of the more positive tea experiences I've had in ages (this version, I mean).  It just works; it all balances.  The freshness, sweetness, feel, and aftertaste all really come together.  That fresh lychee flavor might be evolving more towards pear.  I'll probably have to get a cake of this.

H'Mong village:  this is a really solid tea too, and lots of what I've described in the other carries over.  The way I'm describing it might make it sound like it's like the other but with some cooked vegetable, but it's not like that.  Technically maybe a little, but the freshness is generally similar.  The overall balance is also good, and the intensity, sweetness, and complexity are nice.  The flavor is shifting a little towards apple or pear; that change might be more complete in another round or two.

I drank a little water between this and the next round and that sweetness really came out.  Usually that happens when a tea is bitter, sweet, and intense, but these might be expressing more intensity than it seems.  Maybe I'm judging them more positively for really feeling this tasting experience, but my current take is that they're both really special.

Dao #4:  this shifted more to pear flavor range.  Mineral range is stronger, heavier, and slightly warmer.  Sweetness is still good, and an emergent impression of freshness still comes across well.  Intensity is great, and it's all the better for a full feel pairing perfectly with it, and aftertaste expression continuing it.

As far as considering how this might age I'd just drink it right now, a lot of it, and then if someone has enough to do that and keep some it'll probably transition nicely for 2 or 3 more years, and then not be as good again (to me, related to my expectations and preferences).  But I could drink right through a half a kilogram of this, I think, more the way I typically only drink the same black tea over and over.  I went through a couple of cakes of my previous favorite from Viet Sun, but that took awhile.

H'Mong:  mineral really takes this over too, but it's not getting that much warmer and deeper, sticking more to the limestone mineral range.  That integrates really well with less distinct floral and fruit range (all harder for me to place in this version).  Intensity is good, and the way feel pairs with the experience is really nice.  These are probably pretty good teas, as a quality level scale goes.  It's great the way they combine the freshness, sweetness, and intensity of a young sheng without the harsher edges that can go along with that, out of balance bitterness and astringency.  The material not being broken at all helps with that; it's completely whole leaf.  But the quality is good beyond that.

So is this genuine old plant, wild or natural growth origin tea, is that what's going on?  Maybe; probably.  Some elevation and favorable growing conditions are probably also positive inputs, and the plant type is probably positive, and processing inputs.  It doesn't matter though.  In the end it's really nice, and trying to sort out why a tea is really good is much more pleasant than trying to figure out why limitations entered in.

Dao #5:  this might be enough for notes, and 10 cups is a good bit.  Mosquitos figured out where I am, and the cats have had enough time to play and smell everything.

This is still so nice, but in the same ways I've been describing, so there's no need to keep on with that.  The mineral picks up a dry edge, or it seems that feel and flavor transition go together, but otherwise it's the same.  On the next round (#6) mineral really picks up, and fruit flavor and sweetness have generally faded, but it's still quite pleasant.

H'Mong:  more of the same as well.  It might have a little more mineral base, depth, and feel structure than the other, so it's definitely not inferior, just different.  That flavor range in the other really works well for me though; I do like it better.  And it has good freshness, intensity, balance, and so on.  The snap pea aspect has long since faded, but I'm not having much luck with a flavor list for this.

On the next round it's still holding a great balance, maybe with even more fullness of range than the other, more depth and intensity.  I'll probably still let these brew a little longer, more than the nearly 30 seconds I've been using (proportion is backed off my standard 8 grams, maybe only 6), to try them stronger.  But intensity was already good this round (#6; I combined notes for both), so it's just to see what changes.

Dao #7:  mineral dominates the experience brewed a little stronger, this late into the infusion count.  Maxing out proportion and using shorter rounds would delay that by a couple of infusions.  It's still quite pleasant though, not really thinning in character much yet, or expressing that green wood flavor and astringency sheng tends to when it's pretty much done.  But they are fading.

H'Mong #7:  still quite pleasant, still not done, but a little diminished in range.  Most sheng versions never express the brightness, freshness, positive floral and fruit range, and sweetness these did in the first half dozen rounds, so they'd never be better than this.  Much higher bitterness level would be typical; I guess someone could see that as a limitation, even though I don't.