I'm trying the last two samples of teas from Viet Sun, more wild origin, local versions sent by Steve Shafer for feedback and review (many thanks). All have been exceptional so far, exemplifying why exploring well above average versions of teas from SE Asian areas can be so interesting.
I have some pre-conceptions about what these might be like, based on trying other things, but it will be as well to add his descriptions during editing and get right to the tasting, talking about the actual experience instead of guessing about it ahead of time.
Pu Ta Leng White ($28 per 100 grams), with more background on their FB page
A special tea from the upper slopes of Pu Ta Leng Mountain. The raw material for this tea comes from ancient trees growing at an altitude of 2200m+. Some of the trees here are 20-30m tall! The leaves of these trees take on a dark-green purplish color and have a wild look to them.
The tea trees used to make this tea are a non-Sinensis, Camellia varietal. Research on exactly which varietal they are is still pending!
This is a tea for purple tea lovers! This tea has a wonderful sweet sour, fruity floral fragrance with a tingling cooling sensation that builds in the throat.
The qi is energizing and uplifting. Drinking this tea always puts me in a great mood.
Longer steeps at 80-90 degrees work well for me.
Sunset Old Tree Oolong ($35 for 100 grams)
A strip style oolong produced from old (100-300+ year old) Shan varietal trees growing in the Hoàng Su Phì area of Hà Giang.
This is a unique tea. Assamica oolongs are typically much harsher than their Sinensis counterparts so processing and storage play a major role in the production of this tea.
This tea was produced in Autumn of 2020.
Producing this tea requires some real skill. The tea maker actually won the Tea Master's Cup a few years ago. After production the tea has a nice fragrance, strong qi but the flavor is quite harsh and unbalanced. Aging for 2 years in an ideal environment has really brought this tea to a wonderful state.
The flavor is complex. I pick up notes of savory warming spices with a peppery floral fragrance. Thick sweetness with a medium-thick body depending on how strong you brew it. It has this softening effect that spreads and finishes with a bit of a tannic bite.
I like brewing it at 85-90 for shorter and then longer steeps.
Sounds good. It's interesting that a guess about cost in the notes matches these prices, which really are a great value for what these teas are, especially the white tea version. I've tried purple leaf tea versions before but nothing like this white tea, and only sheng and black tea made from leaves described as such. It's unconventional, which matches those, but not really jammy or including an odd sour note, as some other examples have.
It's an interesting comment about Assamica oolongs typically being harsher. I can only think of three examples that I've tried, beyond Indian teas presented as oolong, which is always a bit hard to place, almost also so far off Chinese oolong style that direct comparison isn't meaningful. Those three weren't harsher (one from Yunnan and two from Vietnam), but they weren't as smooth, rich, and light in character. Maybe that other range could be interpreted as harsher, and it's more about use of concepts than interpretation of aspects. Here's a link to reviewing two of them.
Review:
Pu Ta Leng white: really novel. I end up saying something like that a lot, but it's true in a different sense for this tea. Depth and complexity hasn't filled in, since this is only the first infusion, but there is a range of novel flavor aspects that I've not experienced before. It's fruity, a bit subtle, sweet, and distinctive, with an almost champagne-like character, so it leans a little towards a light Darjeeling, but it's not remotely close to that typical range. Citrus is part of it, but something else really interesting is going on, maybe towards a light spice range, but almost like a version of alcohol. Breaking that apart one might come up with fruit, floral, spice range, but it's something else in actual effect, closer to some sort of wine range, although it may be Northwestern US Pinot Noir scope instead of Champagne. It'll be interesting to see how it evolves.
Sunset oolong: that's about as novel, again completely unfamiliar range. It doesn't offer the same degree of immediate connection, a "hook" effect, that the other did, but it's perhaps even more promising related to how this might unfold. It's much more intense, and just as novel. Of course there are warm tones, rich fruit, and a touch of dryness from the oxidation level input, but the specific flavor range is the interesting thing.
One inclusion is towards citrus, like red grapefruit. A richer depth reminds me a little of autumn leaf, a very rich version of that range, the smell right when the leaves falling peaks, not yet dry, but not too wet either. Or interpretation as roasted butternut squash wouldn't be unreasonable, but to me it's rich in a different way than that. That dry tannin edge supports the rest, although it would also be fine without it. With the much greater intensity aftertaste also extends further than for the first version; it remains an evolving experience after you swallow the tea. This could be sold as a black tea and no one would question that; it's quite oxidized. It's a bit different than the Oriental Beauty theme, where intense fruit and some spice combine, but oxidation level and some parts of that general effect apply.
Both lived up to expectations for being novel, complex, balanced, and expressing no significant flaws. To account for the intensity difference I'll pour the oolong first, brewing both for in the range of 10 seconds, just under for that and over for the white tea.
Pu Ta Leng white, second infusion: so much depth increased, even for the very fast infusion time. This is a really exceptional tea. I end up saying or implying that all the time, since I only review teas that I like, and don't generally run across the most conventional examples, but this is something else. Spice is definitely part of what is going on with this, all the clearer because the tone warmed. It has a light citrus fruit edge too. It's hard to be clearer on which spice and which form of citrus; it's not so far off cinnamon, but not that, and the lighter and sweeter citrus last round is evolving more into a dark orange tone, like a blood orange.
An overall effect is what maps to an alcohol / wine / champagne range. Do you know how tisanes can often be very positive even though the flavor can seem very one dimensional? This is the opposite. Even though the flavor isn't intense it covers decent range, but a lot in the context of what is experienced relates to depth. I don't connect with white teas that don't taste like much but this isn't that, even though the general tone is subtle and light, and there isn't a long list of flavors to cover. Maybe I'm missing an input that really gives it appeal, like a hint of tangerine making the rest balance and seem catchy. Or that could just be floral tone depth showing through, acting as a base, the kind of thing that mineral range usually covers for sheng pu'er.
Sunset oolong: the same, just a bit different. Warm tones increased, which kind of comes across as a bark spice, or just plain bark edge. Depth picks up as some sun-dried tomato range joins in, which isn't so different than the first round, just more pronounced. There's plenty of fruit range too, and that significant dry edge. It's hard to unpack any of it, since it comes across as complex but simpler than the flavor list version would sound. A floral input seems rich and heavy, like rose, with the red grapefruit citrus vague or else transitioned this round. This seems in between a Dian Hong (Yunnan black) and Oriental Beauty range, with some novel flavor range not completely common to either. It's interesting.
Pu Ta Leng white, third infusion: this evolved to taste a lot like peach or nectarine; that's pretty cool. Maybe it was always a peach aspect that seemed extra catchy, and I was having trouble sorting it out from the rest.
Sunset oolong: spice tones switch around, both the form and balance. This includes a spice range element that's not completely unlike soap, which works a lot better than it sounds. Fruit complexity stands out more, and that rich and savory sun-dried tomato depth, along with a roasted squash sort of deep flavor range. Pumpkin maybe, instead, Thai or Japanese pumpkin as opposed to the orange jack-o-lantern kind. It has a lot going on though, as I've already listed out.
Pu Ta Leng white, fourth infusion: not exactly fading, but reducing intensity requires extending timing more than I did this round. I could try a long-brewed round to share how that goes, out towards 30-40 seconds.
Sunset oolong: oddly that astringency edge isn't fading, even though the flavor intensity is dropping out a bit already. It's still quite complex and positive, but stretching infusion time to add flavor intensity back in will surely ramp up that dry feel edge and structure. I think on the light side, as this is, is probably optimum now.
Pu Ta Leng, fifth infusion: this is perfect for stretching intensity by adding time, since the feel always had some depth but no real dryness or edge. Citrus bumps a bit from that change, as warm underlying tones also do. An effect that comes across as slightly vegetal joins in, nothing negative at all, maybe just a touch of green wood tone. I'll leave off the note taking but I think this has the potential to brew a few more very positive rounds, and keep stretching to make more tea after that.
Sunset oolong: it is a lot drier brewed that bit stronger, more intense in a way that only black tea drinkers might appreciate. This is still in the really good orthodox Assam black tea level of astringency, not so pronounced. The flavor edge that matches that is interesting, not exactly malt, as in Assam, but a warm bark-tone theme that's not so far off, in one sense.
Conclusions:
A minty sort of note evolved in the white tea version after further infusions; it stayed just as positive through a long cycle. The oolong was positive through more rounds too, but my personal preference really clicked better with the white tea version.
It's interesting that both of these don't really remind me of any other tea types. I suppose the first might be closest to a Baozhong, a light Taiwanese oolong, definitely not like any white tea I've ever tried. This oolong is in an unusual place in between Oriental Beauty, Dian Hong, and orthodox Assam range, just as close to black tea character as any oolong, maybe even more oxidized than some teas presented as lightly oxidized black tea.
They're both quite good. For being so high in quality and unusual in style I'm not sure what that relates to for a market rate price. There wouldn't be one. It will be interesting to go back and see how these are priced then. If I had seen no other listings from them I would guess in the 40 cent per gram range, but for seeing other really good teas priced lower maybe it's 30 instead. Setting value aside the experience of these is really unique, and both are so well-balanced, complex, and pleasant that it would be nice to drink quite a bit of either.
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a recent temple visit |
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missing my cat daughters lately, separated related to some transitions going on |
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