I'm trying the last of three sheng samples from Vietnam from Geoff of Hatvala. This tea should be really nice. I wanted to try it along with another version, since I'm in the habit of that, and I have lots of similar teas from Laos around that would be perfect for that. But instead I looked through what other sheng I have samples of left to try, to see if anything would make for a decent match, and decided to go with a contrast theme instead. I'll try this along with a Lincang (Yunnan) sample from K. Muikee Tea, a Bangkok Chinatown shop sample, that I think Noppadol passed on quite awhile back.
I kept saying over and over that combined or comparison tasting works best when the two teas are nearly identical, to help distinguish finer differences or subtle aspects, suitable only when the basic tea type and context is roughly the same. I'm not rejecting that, just trying something else today. Usually a type mis-match in combined tasting has occurred when I don't know what one or more is like, but in this case I really expect the two to be different.
To spoil the surprise just a little, I thought it would work out as a more conventional contrast of a non-traditional, less bitter and astringent, more novel sheng version with a bit rougher, moderate-quality, mainstream version, but the difference wasn't as broad as I expected. Or at least the form differed a little.
It was just a guess; teas vary by broad area, by prefecture or province (more or less by county or state, per the US breakdown of areas, with "Yunnan" more a broad region). But they're not really consistent by any area description because there are so many other factors: plant type and age, growing conditions (microclimate, monoculture versus integrated with other plants, etc.), and with processing differences. I'll just go with the description as I try them rather than to guess further.
Review
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quite a contrast in appearance, but then one is maocha, loose tea |
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K Muikee tea Lincang left, Hatvala right |
Lincang (Bangkok tea shop tea Yunnan sheng): this tea is a little better than I'd expected. It's warm in aspect range, not overly bitter, with good complexity. Flavor aspects include heavier mineral (towards slate), with a dark wood / tree bark range that's a bit towards pine needle or spice. I'll pin it all down more next round.
Lao Cai (Hatvala local Vietnamese version): this tea isn't quite soaked enough to brew as intense as it will yet; the leaves were very twisted. These two teas may be closer than I thought. This one is also warm in character, also not especially bitter, with a bit less dark mineral character than the other, but still a nice lighter toned mineral base. The dry tea scent was really unique, indicating this might include some fruit aspect, a bit towards grape or raisin, closer to Darjeeling range than sheng ever gets. We'll see if that develops more next round once this gets brewing more.
The Lincang seems more bitter when comparing the flavors. I guess it was less than I expected initially, but still more bitter than this Vietnamese version by a good bit. I don't mind bitterness in sheng if the overall balance of flavors and other aspects works. How much would be too much, or if it's positive at all, would depend on that level and how the aspects match together.
Second infusion
Lincang: bitterness is really picking up as the tea is infusing better. I used a 10 second or so time for this and this version would probably be better at 5. It's not just about the tea type; the leaves are a lot more broken, and will release a different proportion of compounds related to that. Few people would interpret that as positive, unless they really appreciate bitterness as a pronounced aspect. Supporting aspects are a bit brighter this round, with pine most noticeable, joined by an aspect that tastes a bit medicinal. It's hard to settle on what medicine, maybe a flavor related to something dentists apply to your mouth. Oddly that's not as bad as it sounds; adjusted a bit for other supporting aspects it could be positive.
Per different interpretations it could just be floral, or perfume-like. Really even if I didn't actually mention "floral" in a sheng description it could go without saying, as if I just got carried away with isolating some mineral or spice and missed that as an obvious observation, in every case. It's conceivable that a young sheng might not be floral at all but most are, at least a little as a secondary aspect.
Lao Cai: oddly the intensity of this tea isn't increasing as much as I expected. It seems it's just going to be subtle. The character is nice: limited bitterness, some mild floral tone, a bit of green wood, supported by mineral. There is a hint of dryness, a bit like the edge that comes with biting into the inside of a field grass blade, the part under the floral bud. It has some sweetness but not as much as the fruit-inclined dry scent hinted at, and as of yet essentially no fruit flavor has emerged. One part of the flavor is mild and subtle but catchy; in between that light green wood tone and like tasting field grass, or a green version of hay.
Third infusion
Lincang: this kind of works. The floral / perfume-like aspect picked up, a bit further off medicinal range now, and along with sweetness that flavor balances the bitterness present well. Before drinking as much sheng as I have in the past year (or 16 months, maybe) I'd interpret this as tasting a lot like an aspirin but at this point it balances better for me, since I'm ok with a broader range of bitterness. I don't love it but it's pleasant in its own way. Dialed back just a bit that bitterness would work better; this tea would probably be better in a few years.
Lao Cai: warmth is picking up in this version, and it's gaining depth. Warm mineral picked up a bit and the grass / light wood is moving into more mature grain scope, like hay that's partially cured but not yet dried. A very faint spice undertone, too faint to assign description to, helps the primary flavors come across better. I'd like this tea better if I'd not been spoiled by so many great Laos versions lately, and the other two Vietnamese sheng Geoff shared. I'm not sure that it suffers in comparison since it's evolving towards more positive character but a tea being interesting, distinctive, well-balanced, and generally positive just seems normal now; I'm looking for what goes beyond all that.
It's funny how the subtle nature in this version is fine, even pleasant, and how intense it makes the other tea version seem when tasting it after this one, in switching back and forth. It's double the intensity, across flavor and other general impact, especially related to bitterness but not just that. I might like this Vietnamese version a bit better now but in two or three years once that Lincang tea has settled down a bit it might be really nice. Of course doing flash infusions is going to help the Lincang version; it's fine brewed for a more typical time-frame for me (more like 10 seconds), but probably a little better even lighter.
Fourth infusion
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later during tasting; only one of them is ever looking at the camera |
Lincang: from here it seems these aspects are just going to shift in proportion to each other; bitterness will vary, warmth, floral tone, perfume-like character, etc. I've not got around to trying a true flash infusion, just not focused in enough to pour the water in and back out quickly, and that might help.
Lao Cai: floral range picks up in this version; it's the best that it's been. It might just keep getting better too; I don't think it's halfway through infusions yet. Along with the warmer cured hay (swapped in for the wood / fresher hay in the earlier rounds) the floral tone works well. I'm feeling like that's enough tea for now but I'll run through one more round to see how the two transitions keep going.
Fifth infusion
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the other one in mid-jump on that trampoline |
Lincang: the bitterness is mellowing out; it's better. Warmth picks up a bit more too, not just a heavier version of rocks but now moved into a bit of corroded iron. This is a pretty nice tea, within the range of style it expresses, which wouldn't be for everyone. Intensity is good and the aspects balance reasonably well. This might even hold up well to being set aside for a dozen years or so, but at a guess I think it would be more approachable and positive in only 2 or 3. Or if someone is on that page, ok with that degree of bitterness, it's fine now.
Lao Cai: that cured grain primary aspect, along with a mild and rich but light intensity version of floral, has moved a bit further towards spice. It doesn't taste exactly like any one of the standard spices but the flavor and general impression isn't unlike the warmth and complexity of nutmeg. It's odd that the flavor intensity is as limited as it is, a direct contrast to the other tea. Of course brewing the other really fast and this one stretched out a bit in timing would draw them even, to some degree. But this tea would still be more subtle, until you really let the infusion time run, and even then it would be intense in a different way. It would be like trying to extend brewing time to get a silver needle or silver tips to be as intense as other teas' range; it kind of doesn't work that way, it's just not what you're working with.
The feel isn't thin, and the aftertaste doesn't just drop out, so the other levels establish the tea experience in the normal range; it's only subtle in flavor. I don't miss the bitterness level in the Lincang version; I can still appreciate that tea but it's not a positive factor to me. One nice part of this overall experience is that this Vietnamese tea is fine to drink right now; there's no concern that it might mellow out and reach its potential in 2 to 12 years, it's good as a young version.
Sixth and seventh infusions
I let off and took a long break; I'll try it and record a few more notes and see if I missed anything.
The Lincang is the best it's been for mellowing out a bit; that took a good number of rounds. I wouldn't necessarily peg the flavor as woody in a conventional sense but it seems like brewing a tree leaf would end up a lot like this (maybe maple or oak, a hardwood). Usually "woody" describes a tea that's on the end stretch, getting on with brewing out, but this version still has complexity going for it. The round after seems to include a bit more spice tone, but I think that's due to infusion strength varying and changing what I pick up instead of actual transition.
The Lao Cai might be fading just a little, but subtle as it was maybe that's just what I'm picking up. It's still nice, definitely not becoming woody, but then I'd expect it to just fade instead. It's subtle but the sweetness and floral tone it has is nice, along with a complexity more from a neutral-tone taste than mineral or bitterness. It reminds me a bit of chrysanthemom, the way that's floral but also a bit neutral. The next round is stronger for this tea too; my internal clock timing system isn't ideal, unless a bit of variation is seen as ideal.
Conclusion
I really didn't add a conclusion to the notes, and didn't get around to converting this draft of those into a final post until a week later. I liked the Lao Cai better, but then I think the Lincang is suited for hanging around for a couple more years to be better, or maybe even better in another dozen years. I wonder how much that tea cost; I guess that's relevant, especially if the main idea is to gamble on it improving much later.
The Vietnamese Lao Cai version would've came across as a lot more novel and interesting to me if I hadn't tried another dozen versions of sheng from Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar in the past half a year. As it was the aspects and tea experience were still really nice. I wouldn't mind owning a couple hundred grams of this to drink it regularly and mess around with brewing approach more. And it holds up well enough in comparison to those other SE Asian regional themed versions. As I recall I liked one from the Laos set from Somnuc a little more, and it's kind of on par with the other 3 or 4 between those and what Anna shared, and maybe not necessarily better or worse than the other two Geoff had shared, more just different in style.
I'm not really trying to keep it all straight and ranked in order though. My memory is shot; that's why I write a blog, partly. One of the next posts is about doing two completely separate rounds of tasting two different other sheng (from Laos, that time, from Anna of Kinnari Tea) to check how much my interpretation varies. If I had a better memory I would already know that but as it stands comparing the two sets of notes, whenever I get to that, could come as a surprise.
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