I'm reviewing two sheng versions from Anna of Kinnari Tea; these should be really interesting.
They're Laos sheng, from the far North. One lists it's from the "bai hao" cultivar, a tea plant type more typically used to make white tea.
William of Farmerleaf was also involved with an NGO project to conduct local training workshops in producing more standard and consistent sheng pu'er versions there, along with Anna and a supporting agency, with details about that in this video.
William mentions a link to more details about that project here, from the Comité de coopération avec le Laos (with an alternate Facebook page reference here). Part of the introduction goes into that background:
In Nyot Ou, the northernmost district of Laos, tea trees grow in the wilds of the tropical forest covering the slopes of the mountains bordering the Chinese province of Yunnan. The wild tea stems from the variety Assamica, one of the two main varieties of tea. In China, this variety is called “the high tree with larges leaves”.
Growing tea has a long history in the Yunnan region: large tea leaves were used as medicine for at least three millenniums and seem to have already been a popular drink around the second century B.C.
Wild tea trees in Nyot Ou can grow as high as fifteen meters. Old pruning marks observed on some of them suggest that they could have be planted hundreds of years ago. In this case, they can be considered as “Ancient tea”, namely a tea tree resulting from a selection of wild tea varieties.
The rest of the background story is compelling. I would highly recommend reviewing William's summary video explanation and at least scanning that NGO web page.
This really is the "wild, forest friendly" tea that comes up in discussion and sometimes in marketing claims. The tea is something else; how it turned out depends on lots of factors, the plant type, growing conditions, processing, etc. So I'll review it without adding more about all that, but I will pass on a few photos taken from that reference page to visually add more about it.
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this photo set copyright of CCL, Comité de coopération avec le Laos. see related link for content description. |
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| Nammanoy village, Nyot Ou |
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more remote than where I've visited in Laos, which was already rough travel in spots |
Review background
Something unusual came up related to this review; I was discussing my impression with Anna and it didn't match hers. In particular that related to describing the level of bitterness in the Bai Hao version (sheng version made from a cultivar usually used for white tea production). I decided to re-taste the teas, without referencing the notes, in order to see if my take was the same. It was but it wasn't; related to that level of bitterness my impression was different.
Instead of including the typical round-by-round description (which I now have two sets of notes on) I'll summarize findings for both from both notes. I can't completely explain the discrepancy, the difference in interpretation or assessment of the aspects, especially that one, but I'll mention some possible factors in a section after the review summary. It was interesting how even though the rest of the reviews seemed relatively consistent, beyond that one point about level of bitterness in one, interpretation of the flavor aspects did vary some.
Review
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First tasting round, Bai Hao Left, Workshop version right |
Workshop tea (I'll go tea by tea across rounds in this format). This tea was on the subtle side but the character it did have was pleasant. It was a little more intense than the other version related to flavor input, but the "Bai Hao" tea had a creamy fullness to the feel that filled in that experience more. A warm tone stood out; described in different parts of both reviews as possibly related to autumn leaf or a warm version of mineral, like South-Western US sandstone. Bitterness was very light; part of what might have been occurring related to seeing the "Bai Hao" version as bitter was noticing a relative difference (with more on that in the other review and explanation).
Some amount of floral tone was present in this version, which trailed into a light version of dried fruit in later rounds. The tea was noticeably darker than the other version, related to the leaves, and the brewed liquid, which might indicate that it had oxidized a bit during processing (hard to imagine what else that could relate to). That could also help explain the character. It wasn't really like a black tea but the normal degree of bitterness dropping out and the flavors extending from light and bright into a warmer, softer, earthier range would all be explained by that. It even had a mild savory quality to it (only picked up in one of the two review notes versions), a bit like sun-dried tomato.
Bai Hao plant-type sheng: this tea was much milder in overall character, light in flavor intensity, with a degree of bitterness identified as very low in one tasting and only moderate in another, but the dominant aspect in the experience. In the review where bitterness seemed stronger a flavor along the lines of green wood paired with that; in the other review the tea was described more as mild, light in flavor, and floral. A flavor along the line of hay or mild version of wood was identified in the other set of notes; that would probably correspond, but seems interpreted as different in regards to level of bitterness and related flavor. Feel seemed full in both review impressions, a bit creamy even, and the character pleasant, with enough sweetness to give the tea good balance, but a mild overall flavor. A mild floral tone filled in background complexity, just light in tone, and subdued in character, how chrysanthemum or even chamomile can come across.
That cuts out a lot of the specific observations but covers the main themes and impression. To be clear (and probably to repeat myself) the Bai Hao version didn't seem relatively bitter, as young sheng goes, but it did seem more bitter in the first tasting, and very mild in the second. The rest of the aspect description generally matched.
All of this might be implying some judgement of bitterness as a bad thing, which doesn't necessarily work. I made this observation in the first round, related to that:
The bitterness is at a great level; for some people less would always be more, but to me this balances well.
That aspect seemed more pronounced than in the other tea, and stronger in one tasting than the other (the one this comment came from), but to me bitterness can work really well in sheng if the balance of the rest compliments it well.
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Second tasting session; Bai Hao left, Workshop tea right |
Possible reasons for variation
This provides a good background for talking through why reviews might be inconsistent; these two in particular, but also in general. I'll list individual potential reasons for variation and talk through background more within that format.
I'm not a consistent input: teas can seem different depending on changes related to the person tasting them; energy level, mood, background conditions changing perspective, etc. Even though I've tried a lot of teas over a long time and feel I probably have a decent taste-memory I suspect that trying a lot of teas of a certain range shifts an interpretive baseline. For example, I'd guess that if I'm trying a lot of very mild versions of sheng for weeks that my impression of what is a bitter version would change to including a lot less of that aspect as an input. Quality level probably also shifts as an expectation; if I'm trying a lot of exceptional tea of any type it would be harder for a version to stand out related to being well above average. Background noise in particular is a very significant input; finer details related to tea aspects drop out with any degree of distraction as a factor.
Parameter variations: this could make a big difference. Shifting proportion or water temperature would change outcome, even if proportion difference was offset by infusion timing change. Using even slightly cooler water would brew a milder version of tea, related to infusion strength and intensity of both flavor aspects and astringency. Drinking a tea a good bit slower would actually change water temperature, giving the drained leaves a chance to shed more heat in between infusions. The water used itself would vary results quite a bit, and using filtered tap water might introduce another potential variable, since mineral levels and proportion really could vary some day to day.
Guesses about this specific case: I hadn't given it much thought at the time but I brewed the tea inside the first time and drank it outside the second, at a concrete table beside our driveway. It's nice out there; lots of plants make for a pleasant background. It was a bit cool both days, for us, but maybe as cool as Bangkok ever gets for the second tasting, around 25 C (77 F, or so). Right, it's warm here. I was using a slightly lower proportion the second time, not for any particular reason, but that parameter judgment is usually just based on immediate inclination. Infusion times would have ran a little longer as a result, to even out brewed tea strength, but it's easy to not really compensate for that difference with the right degree of timing change, and to drink the tea lighter.
I think temperature may have been a factor. I was drinking the tea in a cooler space, on a concrete table versus wood, which may have drawn more heat out of the teaware, perhaps a bit slower due to having more time. Proportion probably also came into play. I suspect I always vary at least a little as an input, in every review. Sometimes I have a long block of free time for a review, setting up a good baseline for background, but I don't always. I definitely sleep different amounts every night, more or less interrupted, and review teas on Saturday or Sunday mornings, but at different times in the morning. That kind of input change should be minor, but minor changes could add up. If kids are around (and half the time they are) the background noise changes things a lot. Even expectation of finishing more quickly would be an input; working around having a set length of time.
I doubt the leaves varied, but it's worth at least mentioning. Plantation tea would be made of very consistent plant material input, and probably processed very consistently. I doubt the tea itself really did vary though, but it is conceivable. In cases when it's known that multiple types of plants were used in making the tea it would be more a factor, or when evident processing variation would be a cause (slightly scorched leaves, a case of a processing flaw). I'm guessing that the tea was probably relatively uniform in this case, not a main cause.
It was an interesting experiment. I won't be running that too often because it takes a long time to do two tastings and to edit notes for that kind of thing. It seems a good time to point out that I see these reviews as an impression. It might be more of an objective take than someone with very limited tea exposure and review practice would pass on but I never intended them as amounting to a final analysis. To really get to that, a balanced, final opinion, it would help to try a tea at least three times, and compare notes on impression from those three tastings. Four or five would be even better, perhaps using the last round as an evaluation in comparison to the earlier findings.
Interpretation of basic aspect levels (eg. bitterness, sweetness, level of astringency) really should be relatively more consistent, but interpretation of flavor aspects would naturally tend to vary.
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