Liquid Proust Sheng Olympiad 2008 Guang Bie Lao Zhai

I'm reviewing the last of a Liquid Proust Sheng Olympiad set, probably two months after most of the people who bought that set tried it.  It was nice.

Perhaps the main story behind this tea is the part of the label that I left off, "Malaysian Storage," or for others the producer name is the real novelty, made by Huang Chuan Fang.  The other samples in this set were younger teas (newer), and this will be a chance to check if my past impression of Malaysian storage lending a specific flavor to sheng is right.  Not conclusively, since it will take lots more samples of different kinds to really get to firmer conclusions, but it will still be interesting to see.  I don't know what the tea itself is; probably as well to leave that until the end to check anyway.

For here let's start in with the Liquid Proust description:

Malaysia: 16g 2008 Guang Bie Lao Zhai from Huang Chuan Fang 

Still new to Huang Chuan Fang... but these cakes have been stored in Malaysia for 10 years.


I got side-tracked reading up on that area designation and background (between the earlier statement and editing phase), but suffice it to say that it's a Bulang mountain location.  A lot of the tangents that turned up were interesting but these reviews are long enough as it is.  This reference seems to mention this producer, Huang Chuan Fang, and an interesting tea event awhile back, from Phyll's Account of the June 2007 Pasadena Pu'er Tasting Event.  It's odd that's no longer a news update, as presented there, and more like US tea culture history now.

Review

It's pleasant, and it definitely tastes aged.  I let the infusion run longer than I will for the rest of the cycle (well over 10 seconds), to move past a "still getting saturated" phase, so it's on the strong side this round.  Familiar age-related flavors are clear.

People describe those in all sorts of ways and I'm not sure if my own ordinary-language versions really mean much to anyone.  They probably only would to people who are familiar with the experience, which defeats a little of the point of communication, only talking to people who already know what you are saying.  I'll stick with it though.

That warm, mineral-intensive, sappy range reminds me of aged leather, stones, old books, and to some extent to warm spice.  Sweetness is along the lines of an earthy form of molasses.  A lot of this review will probably be trying to put better description to all that than I'm able to, and I think today I'll say less since adding more words won't really help anyway.  That spice is probably in between a tropical dark hardwood, an incense spice, and tobacco.  Maybe on the next round the general-scope descriptions can be clarified to a narrower set.

Next round:  it's still complex, hard to narrow beyond adding that laundry list of what aged teas (sheng) tend to taste like.  Tobacco probably does stand out more this round, but it's not alone, still in a complex other set.  Incense spice is on the same level, frankincense or myrrh or something such.  I should figure out where the modern versions of hippies are hanging out in Bangkok and go to a store selling products in those ranges. 


The level of aging seems right, pronounced for this tea only being 10 years old, and the flavor intensity and general character works.  Sometimes aged versions can seem quite thin across an aspect range, the body / feel can be light, aftertaste just missing, or flavor set one-dimensional.  Maybe that's related to a storage issue, or maybe due to not being suitable for aging in the first place.  I expected this to be slightly heavier yet in flavor tones (danker, to stick with that earlier theme), and it still strikes a decent balance.  I could see why people further along in experiencing aged sheng might possibly think this is great, or might think it's not how such teas are supposed to be at all, outside even a broadly defined range of potential preference scope.  To me it's nice.


On the next infusion the flavor didn't really need to clean up or sort out in any sense, and it has only transitioned slightly.  A different kind of warm mineral tone is ramping up, and the sappy resin-like character that had been there all along.  The rest falls into more of a complex and even balance.  In seeing positive feedback about this version in limited online discussion I was wondering if it was more the positive character of the tea that caused that impression or that it was a chance to try an aged version.  It's probably both; the tea is ok, and aged.

A kind of generic aged sheng version I bought in Chinatown was similar in some ways, or overlapped, especially related to the tobacco flavor, but it was a lot less complex and thinner in feel and overall impression.  Again the range that's there being positive depends on preference but it seems a decent fit to ordinary likes, beyond just lacking common flaws.  I've tried sheng this aged that had just faded away and this didn't.

I just ran across an interesting aging related review post describing teas seeming quite young at double this age, if stored in dry and cool enough conditions.  It stands to reason; just as this tea probably experienced an environment that more or less optimized related bacteria and fungus growth it would be easy to imagine the relative opposite in the form of a typical Northern US or Canadian indoor household, generally cool and dry.  I'll probably get around to mentioning more about it but I also ran across this interesting post on a series of combined-trial environment tests on aging.

On the next infusion flavors settle a little and the mineral picks up, still warm and complex but across a narrower range now.  I saw a post about someone drinking tea-bag tea (in a Gong Fu Cha FB group; it wouldn't be funny in others where that's common), claiming that it tasted like pennies.  This does too, a little, but it works.  From aged leather to incense spice then tobacco and now pennies; I could imagine it not working as well for everyone, but I liked it across that range.  It seems likely that it will settle into a character that's different and just as positive or more so over a few infusions, that also sounds a bit strange.

More of the same on the next round.  It's nice the way the mineral intensity balances, and a related feel coats your tongue and transitions to a pronounced aftertaste.  More of the same the round after.  There are going to be mild shifts in character but I'm not as much in the mood for trying to split that apart today.  I'll go slightly longer and add a few notes and let it go.

A tree bark / warm spice range is picking up, although some of that is the character seeming different infused slightly longer.  I could imagine that being interpreted as tobacco instead; it's close enough.  Mineral underlays that nicely, with molasses sweetness filling it in.

Conclusions

On the subject of storage-area and climate related changes, I think I can taste what I expected, but it's hard to be certain.  Other Malaysian aged versions seemed to have a warm, earthy, mineral and almost musty flavor range that this matches up with.  It's not so far off the smell in a basement, something hard to pin down, but noticeable and distinctive.  It smells a little like a wet cement block, or just a little towards a tree root from there.  It's not so far from the slate-mineral taste common to Liu Bao, just not exactly that.

It's hard to evaluate how good or bad a thing it is, but the effect / aspect I'm talking about is quite faint, with the general fermentation level something else altogether.  Maybe this could've achieved a more subtle and refined complex aspect range in another five years in a slightly less damp environment; I couldn't know.  At least it did get relatively completely aged (fermented) in 10 years, and the character stayed pleasant, not musty at all, in spite of how I've just described that aging effect.


Placing this in relation to other aged teas I've tried seems in order.  It's quite decent tea, it seems, per match against my preference.  It's not significantly different than the Thai aged shengs I've tried, Hong Tai Chang versions from Tea Side, one of which from 2006 I own what's left of a cake of.  I tried a Changtai version from that same year a friend passed on that shares some aspect range that seemed a good bit thinner, missing some depth, with limited complexity and a bit thin over-all.  Of course there's no guarantee that a tea is as presented, and all the details of that one weren't shared anyway, but the point here is more a general comparison.

This tea was pleasant for me going back to it and brewing a lot more rounds of infusions, so many that I couldn't guess a count.  It faded over those but stayed positive all the way through them.  Infusion count isn't necessarily a definitive guide to tea quality but to me it seems to be a marker, along with the character of the aspects (of course), and undergoing a pleasant transition cycle. 

It could seem odd that I'm not mentioning feel at all (cha qi), but I only tend to notice that in the most extreme cases, when a young old-tree sheng or older well-evolved sheng version stand out for intensity related to that.  Eventually I might be more "in-tune" myself in order to pick it up better but my kids would need to adopt more regular sleep cycles so that I could share in that practice.  The youngest is now 5; it's about time for that.  I spent some time as a stoner so I feel a bit over experiencing externally caused changes in myself, even if the character of those is generally positive.  My natural neurochemistry balance is working out.

I'm tempted to judge just how good the tea is, or try to place it further, or to estimate how fast it aged related to that storage location and climate.  It's as well to just let the description stand as a partial account; after a few more years of trying tea versions I'll be better prepared for it.

at a local water park with my daughter's friend and his father

Kalani and a cousin at a play area

that little girl is so cute and sweet

this one too

Comparing Laos and Nepal white teas

Moonlight white lower left, Laos top, Nepal tea bottom left

This tasting was about getting to a few teas I've been meaning to try for awhile.  Anna of Kinnari Teas passed on teas at the end of last year, some versions that were sold as Kinnari teas and some that she had ran across in travels in Laos.  Her teas are great.  Laos teas are great, in general.  If this government initiative to support that industry works out you'll have broader access to try some, but don't hold your breath; SE Asian government projects take time.

Another friend, Somnuc Amnousinh, passed on some Laos teas I've written about as well.  He's not a vendor, just a tea enthusiast who gets out, and related to that he shared some great versions from Laos.  This black tea version works as a good example; it's a crying shame that anyone being able to order that tea online is only a distant dream.  If it sounds too good to miss then you need to get on a plane and fly to Laos.

The third is a Nepal tea, shared by a small producer friend there, Narendra Kumar Gurung.  His teas are produced through a Highlanders Farmers Private Limited tea-coop, which I said more about in this post, sold labeled as Barbote teas.  This review of a black tea version conveys how unique and well-made those teas are, just amazing they could be that good so early in their production history.  It's not as if he is new to growing tea though, and processing very good tea is nothing new in the local Nepal industry.  "Very good" is all relative; in this case I mean in the sense of not giving up much in terms of Darjeeling quality standards, or maybe as good but just different in style.  To me that's impressive.


It is nice knowing such interesting and diverse people through exploring tea interest.  Now that I think of it I've written about all three of these people in one other post about meeting interesting tea friends, here.

I've not actually met Narendra in person yet, and there really is an extra depth to that form of experience.  But it can still be nice sharing ideas through messages, and I've tried his teas, which have all been very nice.  It's probably luck of the draw as much as anything but all of the Nepal teas I've tried, not just his, were very pleasant, distinctive, and somewhat consistent in style ranges.  I won't add more about that background, though, since there's plenty of review to get to.

One of these is a Moonlight white and two are silver tips style teas (buds-only white, not so different than silver needle, but I take that to be a more type-specific reference).  It's odd comparing diverse tea types like that, just sharing being white tea.  The plan was for the contrast to make sense, for the Moonlight White to stand out for being type-typical and nothing like the other two, and then for them to make sense related to each other, with the contrasting descriptions as a base that fills in more about character.  It sort of didn't work out like that, but that's part of it too, seeing how things go.

Review

I used about a 30 second infusion time for the first round, which would be way too long for the shengs I've been drinking more of lately, but for these they'll just be getting started infusing in that time.

Laos Moonlight White (Kinnari Tea):  the tea is great, as expected.  It leans more towards spice than I thought it would, since I was expecting more fruit, but that works too, and the fruit will probably develop more over the next two rounds.  This is warm and earthy enough that it could easily be an aged tea version, it's just not, similar in some limited ways to a well-transitioned shou mei.  It's nice, distinctive and sweet.  As near as I can tell based on drinking a light initial infusion it's well balanced.  I'll do more with an aspect list next round.

I didn't take a picture of the dry teas before reviewing them, a bit of a lapse.  As memory serves this looked similar to Oriental Beauty in color scheme as these teas go, with dark, reddish, and brown leaf colors, not limited to silver and black as is typical for Moonlight White.  I really should take another photo since I have more at home, and may edit this to include one if I end up posting it before I do. 

I didn't do much with photos at all in this tasting; I'm not sure why not, since I am in the habit.  It probably related to family-originated background noise; I can't always wait for the kids to clear out somewhere to try and write notes about teas, and it's really hard to focus with piano playing, banging around, and screaming in the background.  It's like having wild animals in the house.

the sweet little noise makers out for pizza recently

Laos silver tip (or silver needle, if you like):  this is labeled "Yanchaw W;" I don't know what that part means).  For once this silver tips version doesn't taste vaguely like straw and flowers.  A good bit of spice comes across in this tea, even more so than in the Moonlight version, which included more spice than anything else.  Strange.  If anything the proportion is slightly lower for this white and it seems more intense than the Moonlight (although without weighing the teas that's just a guess, a guess that will be more informed once I see the fully saturated leaf volume, when it will still be just a guess).

I'm wondering if this wasn't contaminated by being stored too close to something else, the taste range is so unexpected and intense.  There were tisanes in that storage box too and one in particular was aromatic, an unusual form of compressed fruit tisane bar.  I had some pu'er and other long-term stored teas well isolated in a cabinet, and other samples and in-progress versions in a moderately sealed box in that same cabinet, and miscellaneous samples and boxes piling up all over the place, and my wife collected the strays into one storage box.  It would be odd if this whole review was about flavor the tea picked up along the way, and it's as much an actual possibility as a funny thing to say at this point.  These Laos sample teas from Somnuc were stored in plastic bags similar to ziplock bags, and those are a bit permeable, not a great moderate-term storage solution, and this has been around for a few months now.


Nepal silver needle:  this is interesting, distinctive, and pleasant; not on the weak side for being an initial round.  It does taste floral and like dried hay, so it is what I expect as a default from bud-only white teas, but a touch of unique range mineral seems to give away the Nepal origin.  There's a hint of citrus in it too, a dried peel that could be tangerine versus a sweet version of orange:  that's nice.  I'll leave off the longer descriptions to do a full list for all next time.

Laos Moonlight White left, Laos white middle, Nepal tea on the right

Second infusion

Moonlight white:  fruit isn't necessarily filling in yet but a nice savory sweetness similar to sundried tomato is.  That's primary; the spice range isn't as noticeable, and really at this point it requires imagination to split out the rest further.  Free associating a little to get to that:  milder spice is present, and some degree of light floral, but a sweet version of it, something like violet, or instead like a light version of lavendar.  Fruit is closest to dried apricot; to me that part does stand out.


Laos silver needle:  I hate to say it but this does taste like the spice in a tisane blend I tried not long ago, something really novel from Moychay, a pressed fruit bar that was quite heavy on spice (listed here with a description cut short since it's sold out).  This might be a rare case of an aborted review, leaving off as a warning about combined storage, especially if one of the teas isn't well-sealed.  Using ziplock style bags can be a problem; not much of the rest of how teas are stored is as open to being affected like that.  The tea is quite nice, for what that's worth; that hint of spice works well with the rest.  If it is natural it's a unique, positive aspect of this tea.  It's probably not (more guesswork), and most likely a happy accident that the flavor cross-contamination was positive.


Nepal silver needle:  the mineral, light floral, sweetness, hint of dried citrus peel, and dried hay all works together.  It's a distinctive profile that seems familiar.  I'd probably have to brew it stronger to draw out a thicker feel but it doesn't necessarily come across as thin, I've just accustomed to sheng lately, which are even more multi-dimensional.  I will let this run over another 30 seconds to get plenty of infusion strength out of it.


Third infusion

Kinnari Moonlight White:  more of the same, mainly savory, towards sun-dried tomato, with a bit of spice under that.  Or it could seem more like autumn forest floor:  warm, sweet, and rich, clean flavored but earthy.  Using either as a main flavor-range interpretation (or more likely seeing it as covering both for range) there's a hint of spice as well, closest to cinnamon, but also not so far off nutmeg.  Reviewers with a great imagination would add a lot to that, aspects like warm floral tone or rich berry, like blackberry, maybe closer to that than apricot in this round.  I thought it might be even fruitier but at least it does get to a little of that.


Laos silver needle:  I'm dropping this out of the review process; it tastes like warm spice and fruit, way too close to that Moychay tisane pressed bar.  Now that I think of it that tisane bar would be perfect for mixing with an inexpensive white tea to convert it to a flavored version.  To some that would seem like an unnatural act, way off their own preference, and I tend to not drink teas along that line much myself.  But it seems to work in this, and it's not even brewed together, seemingly just picking up a trace of flavor transferred across two layers of packaging.


Nepal silver needle:  the mix of flavors seems to evolve to include a bit of fruit.  The light tangerine peel aspect already was that, but it seems more pronounced and complex in this round.  It's a bit non-distinct, since it is coming across along with all the rest (mineral, dried hay, etc.), and since the profile extends to light floral too.  I'll guess out a range for that fruit as dried citrus fruit itself, versus the peel, maybe closest to blood orange, quite warm and sweet.

apparently I didn't feel like taking pictures that day

Fourth infusion


This will do for a final take; it's enough tea, even though these are probably only more or less half finished.  Using the longer infusion times would limit the count, so it won't make it to over a dozen as sheng tastings have (which brews a lot of tea too).  White teas are often durable related to what can be brewed from them compared to black teas.  Oolongs are in the middle; it just depends on the type.

Moonlight white:  other than fading a little the general effect is the same.  Even that change could result from a variance in infusion time, from not keeping track.


Nepal silver needle:  still in the same range, but the balance keeps shifting.  Mineral might be stronger than the rest in this round (a flinty / limestone sort of range mineral, lighter stone), with light citrus, dried hay, and floral tone standing out, more or less in that order.  It's quite flavorful as buds-only white teas go, in a range that's pleasant.

Conclusions

I really liked all three teas.  The Moonlight wasn't what I expected but it was nice.  For amounting to a tea storage glitch the Laos white was very pleasant.  I probably never will carry through on using that tisane for making a homemade blended version, mixing it with tea, but it would be great for that, and I tend to just not think along those lines.  I did mention in writing about it elsewhere (another story I'll get to) that the fruit tisane bar might work well for adjusting the flavor of a masala chai, doing a fruit-adjusted version of spiced tea.  That I might get to; it's interesting messing around with versions of those.

The Nepal tea was better than I expected, although I probably should've expected that character.   Buds-only whites so often come across as relatively flavorless to me that I don't start with high hopes but Nepal teas are often on the intense side, and Narendra's other versions have been really pleasant.  Someone with more exposure to Nepal white teas would've done more with placing that, comparing it to other range.  In the past I've been more of a fan of the really intense bud and fine leaf Nepal white versions, which can be heavier yet on citrus fruit with a cool mineral undertone, as Narendra's version of that type was.


Many thanks again to those three friends for sharing those teas.

at a local temple with a visitor recently

probably time to get back to a haircut theme

same week, same temple (Wat Pho), different visit

a photo with my wife and a very respected local monk

Farmerleaf Spring 2018 Jingmai Tian Xiang

I recently ordered a few teas from Farmerleaf, a past favorite source for Dian Hong (Yunnan black teas), and a good producer and reseller for a range of Jing Mai sheng.  And they sell others, white teas and such.  I've been buying a few more sheng cakes to try different versions and to bridge more into experiencing how they age, trying them over time.  I've been trying a lot of samples of sheng for a couple of years but don't own that many cakes.

This review covers a version that sounded good, a "Tian Xiang" cake.  I'll cite the whole Farmerleaf description, in part to introduce the tea, and to explain why it sounded interesting:

The second edition of the 'Tian Xiang' cake is made from a selection of natural tea gardens from Jingmai Mountain. Each year, we research about the characteristics of each tea garden and some spots give teas with special traits. This cake was made from natural tea gardens located close to the ancient tea gardens and another group of gardens remotely located halfway between Mangjing and Jingmai. Because of their history and the current agricultural practices, these gardens make a tea of superior qualilty, featuring a thicker soup and more complex fragrance.

This tea was processed in a wok, in the same way as the Miyun cakes, but the raw material differs. The tea features a complex floral fragrance, with hints of tropical fruits. The soup is thicker and Huigan deeper than in the Miyun cake.

In terms of quality, this tea is a good middle ground between the basic natural tea gardens tea and the more expensive teas grown in the ancient tea gardens.


I talked to William Osmont, the Farmerleaf business owner, about the tea before buying it.  He described this as a "daily drinker" in discussion, which raises some interesting considerations.

That simple concept invokes a lot of context issues.  On the one hand it implies a tea should be inexpensive and moderate in quality, decent tea but not good enough to warrant lengthy weekend sessions focused only on the tea.  "Inexpensive" is a matter of expectation too; there is a lot of sheng out there selling for around $40 per cake and this was $79, so double that.  I've recently tried a Yunnan Sourcing "Impression" cake and Bitterleaf "Year of the Dog" cake that were blended tea versions that seem to fit that general type, and match that first lower price range.

One might wonder what William meant, and he clarified that to him it relates to a relatively inexpensive tea that is easy to brew, doesn't require too much attention, and may not be as strong in flavor or body as some other versions.  That works.


I first took him to mean that other versions, in particular older tree / gushu plant source versions, can be more intense, perhaps more refined, and can require a different kind of focus, and can bring different layers of exposure to the experience.  Tea tree age alone doesn't make a tea better; lots of processing inputs go into play, and growing conditions are a factor, and which plant type happened to stick around to get old.

As I interpret it the concept of a "daily drinker" is more about tea style than cost, although that is related too.  I'll drink different types of teas when I'm rushing through a work-day breakfast than I'll choose when I have time to spend.  It's nice to drink a well-above-average orthodox Assam on the fly, brewed as two strong infusions in two rounds in a large mug.  It doesn't work as well to drink 12 rounds of sheng quickly, but I still do sometimes.  Even if I only have even 20 minutes to brew tea with breakfast if I feel like it I'll have sheng, preparing 10 rounds really fast Gongfu style, mixing ("stacking") them as I go to moderate the temperature I drink it at.  I wouldn't do that with a better version I was trying to get a clearer read on.

Given all that it will be interesting to see what I make of the tea, so on to it.

Review

The first infusion is pleasant, on the light side still, but sweet and complex with good intensity.  I should leave off filling in the aspects-list style description until next round and limit this to a first impression effect.  It seems to work.  Bitterness won't a problem in this tea, although there is some to balance the rest.  It will be sweet, flavorful, and approachable.  A hint of smoke stands out, even though it's a trace, there is a vegetal aspect, part of the sweetness probably does relate to fruit, and mineral fills in a nice base.  It's good, of course with "good" being a bit relative.

It's funny how that general description could either be interpreted as sheng at its best or very limited quality tea, depending on how someone takes it, related to their expectations and preferences.

Of course it's a little more intense the next round; the leaves are closer to fully saturated.  Drilling further into how the aspects break down is tricky; that initial take captures a lot of what I'm still picking up.  There is a distinctive range of complex flavors that stands out, but it covers a lot of scope, even though it comes across as simple and integrated.  That can happen.  At first it comes across mostly as a floral range, since that's a default description (more or less), and general expectation.  It resembles fruit too though.  At this point a bit towards pear or white grape, so sweet and light, maybe even Asian pear (very light), but some of the warmth and depth does extend to how more typical US-grown pears are.  Mineral range supports that flavor complexity.

Sweetness could be a little more intense, but there's plenty, and the mild bitterness works well as a counter.  Feel is a bit light, and at least at this point aftertaste doesn't stand out.  There's enough of both that it doesn't come across as thin but compared to a lot of young sheng range it might be judged as such.  If I focused on that more than overall balance and effect (what I really value most about teas, in general) then it would seem more of a limitation.  The style is such that this is a drinkable young sheng, which is fine as a premise, for me.  It doesn't bode well for the tea to be as positive after more than a decade of aging, per my understanding, but it makes it stand out as pleasant now.

All this might sound familiar, about contrasting pleasant, drinkable young sheng with aging potential.  It's a recurring theme I never drop lately, and one I'll be another decade sorting out.  I just re-tried a Moychay Nannuo sheng yesterday that was one of my favorite shengs yet (with this a link to the next-year's version, 2018).  I've finished 2/3rds of a cake of the 2017 cake, in part related to checking back in on it just over a year after buying it.  It's fading; no surprise there.  Or just transitioning, to be more positive about that, but it's definitely losing flavor intensity and sweetness, and it didn't have much astringency and bitterness that could drop out to improve the experience.  It might sound like I'm saying this tea is a lot like that, and at the end I probably will, but I'll hold off on concluding that for now.

This does remind me even more of that tea on the third round; it has nice flavor intensity, sweetness, a good balance, and pronounced fruit.  It's just not overly bitter, astringent, or structured in feel (all of which works for me; it still strikes a decent balance).  I was just thinking of ordering the next years' version of that Moychay Nannuo sheng (and may still), but with this being as stylistically close, and matching in similar aspects, at least I have more to drink of something comparable.  I just doubt that this tea will serve the initial purpose of buying cakes to age well (again at the level of conclusions best reserved to the end).

Mineral makes this tea pleasant; it really helps the flavor balance.   That doesn't pair with feel-structure that tends to often couple with similar mineral range.  I'd picked up a hint of smoke early on but that's not apparent now; it already dropped out.  There's something unusual about the bitterness, which is often simple a one-dimensional, basic aspect, as sweetness sort of is, but both can vary in nature.  The mild bitterness seems to have a complexity to it.

The fruit range seems to be changing most in this round, warming a little, shifting in type.  Lots of flavor aspect interpretations might potentially apply, and since it's complex and linked to a lot of other flavors.  To me it tastes less like white grape, and like a different kind of pear, warmer so further into a ripe, sweet, rich version.  I'm not so good with pear types though; bosch comes to mind but I don't think that's it, since I think that's the one with a brownish skin that's simple in flavor but pleasant.  They're more like this Harry and David gift-delivery version, which my Mom sent me once, some really expensive but pleasantly buttery and rich flavored pears.

Or that fruit also resembles how some mangoes come across, at least warmer, richer-flavored versions.  It's a close to a move towards or into light spice range too, it seems.  It could still be interpreted as floral, and at a minimum it seems to also include that kind of range.

from one of the trees at our house, very nice versions of mangos

On the next infusion (4?) it transitions less.  Intensity picked up, but that probably relates to not paying attention to infusion time, to brewing it longer.  Feel structure is much fuller and aftertaste runs longer.  That's probably both a function of infusing this round slightly longer and a natural transition of aspects through the rounds, really gaining intensity across those ranges.  It had to be that the character actually changed because the effect is too different, especially related to a trailing sweetness aftertaste.  The feel / structure is still a bit light but the aftertaste is much more intense now.

It's interesting how variations in how it comes across at different infusion strengths might allow this tea to suite different preference for sheng style.  If someone liked the flavor-based intensity, sweetness, and approachable nature brewing it very lightly enhances all that.  Letting it run a little longer ramps up thickness and aftertaste effect.  Lighter would be better for me; I can do without the rest as being pronounced, and brewing teas lightly allows you to pick up the finer aspects better, or so it seems to me.

More of the same on the next round; it seems like characteristic transitions across rounds won't be the main story related to this tea, even though it has changed in a couple of notable ways.  Bitterness is a little stronger this round, but it still balances well.  Now it's where a lot of younger sheng more typically are for how sweetness and bitterness offset each other, just still in the lower-end range for level of bitterness, but that much closer to moderate.  Spice range never did develop into a notable aspect, or at least not yet.

This next infusion was on the fast side, back to just under 10 seconds, to gauge how much varying infusion time had been an input, versus the described transitions.  I like the character better quite light.  The flavor is moving towards a more vegetal nature, into a green wood range.  It's not bad but I suppose I did like the fruit better.  It's still complex, it still spans a broad flavor-aspect range, with green wood definitely standing out.  Aftertaste and trailing sweetness is still really pronounced but not like in that last slightly stronger infusion.

My patience for making tasting notes is wearing thin, and this is probably a long enough read anyway.  I'll mention the next round and drop it.

More of the same next round, although it is warming slightly, again.  I bet it will go through one more minor transition in character before it starts to thin in a few more rounds and extending timing changes things again.

finishing a few extra Nannuo rounds (left) with this tea

Conclusions

It's nice.  I'm not sure it will be as nice as it is now at any later stage in the aging process, although it will probably take another year for a lot of the flavor intensity to drop off and character range to go through an initial shift.  I'm sure it will still be fine for a couple years after that, it just remains to be seen if it's not just notably faded between 5 and 10 years old, and if it develops an interesting character further along the aging cycle.

I definitely wouldn't put this away in storage to see how that goes; at a guess it might be showing its best character now.  It's my impression that bitterness, astringency, and overall intensity enable a tea to transition positively over time and to age well, and this version is moderate related to all that range, more on the drinkable side now.  Or maybe it could be on the mild side but still interesting and distinctive later on, for starting from an interesting range related to flavor profile.  I won't drink it all so that I get to check back on changes over time but I will enjoy drinking a good bit of it over this next year.

The character doesn't seem too far off that Moychay Nannuo sheng.  I really should pick up that next year's version, the 2018 tea, so I could drink a lot of both to compare them, and see how they both change.  That other tea might've been slightly fruitier and more intense in flavor range, at least at first, even though some of the fruit aspects that were expressed were common to both.

I often skip the part about evaluating value, but will since that did come up explicitly in the initial framing.  This does seem quite distinctive and pleasant, with the main drawbacks related to someone not preferring this style versus flaws or quality limitations.  Versions get better for being quite different but for the style and character it is this one is very nice.  I would agree that $79 per cake is at the top end for a "daily drinker," but other less costly cakes typically achieve quite different results, based on using blending to even out flaws from more limited quality material.  Of course that's something of a sweeping generalization but that does seem typical.  The overall effect is different for those fairly-priced value-oriented teas that I mentioned; they are "daily drinkers" in a slightly different sense.

The Moychay Nannuo sheng described as similar lists for $71.67, not far off this.  I bought the version I had at the beginning of last year for around that and was very happy with the tea character and quality; it was an immediate favorite.  I may still like that version just slightly more than this one but there's no direct comparison tasting to be done now that the tea has faded over the course of its second year of existence.  It would take buying the 2018 version to settle it, and even then year-to-year changes wouldn't assure it's a close match for that 2017 tea.  Both would make excellent versions to share some of, since they're pleasant and easy to drink, if I could force myself to part with some.