Viet Sun Lùng Vài Spring 2022 sheng

 

This is a sample that Steve of Viet Sun sent for me to try (many thanks!).  It's from Lùng Vài, a location described in his related white tea listing as follows, a white tea that I reviewed last year here:

This tea was processed in the Moonlight White style from old and ancient trees in the Lùng Vài, Hà Giang.  Lùng Vài is northeast of Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain, the tallest mountain in Hà Giang province.

I don't know that this sheng (pu'er-style tea) is also from old trees but that's the running theme with a lot of what he sells.  I don't tend to put much weight on that in terms of likelihood of effect on outcome, or any singular causes / claims, and let the tea experience speak for itself.  Wild origin material sheng is often more unique and interesting, and better, and of course risk of pesticide contamination would be lower, but it's still about the brewed tea experience in the end, not the story line.

I've ordered several versions of new sheng listed on the Viet Sun website for spring of 2024; I'll get back to writing about those later.

Review:

#1:  pretty intense for a first round; no need to go through about how this will open up later.  Bitterness stands out, and warm flavors, and depth.  This isn't the bright, sweet, floral and fruity sheng style I've often ran across in the Vietnamese samples, it's much warmer in tone.  To me warm mineral stands out most, the flavor base, but it would also make sense to interpret this as close to wood tone, or related to a range of inputs causing that effect.  For once I'll actually brew this lighter the next round to get a better read on it.

brewed color may not change as much as camera light sensing shifts

#2:  it's a powerful tea, I'll give it that.  This isn't really my favorite style for sheng but it's still easy to appreciate.  Sweetness is ok but not the same as for versions with brighter, lighter flavor tones.  Brewed quite light, more or less a flash infusion, bitterness moderates.  Feel is structured, and aftertaste effect adds depth, so those aren't really limitations.  The warm tone centers on warm mineral, including other range like cedar wood, not so much drifting over to spice or dried fruit.

#3:  it gains some complexity, but the primary flavor range is the same, warm mineral, extending into wood.  It brings up the question of how this would have changed in the two years since it was produced.  That depends on storage conditions, and it's not easy to map character backwards, to say exactly how a tea was based on how it is.  Astringency probably would've been higher, and bitterness even more pronounced.  This isn't one of those "red sheng" versions, more oxidized, sweeter, initially a short step towards black tea.  

To be clear if someone's main preferences center on this style it would be a really good tea version.  It's clean, complex, and intense; nothing really seems like a flaw.  It's nowhere near as harsh as standard "factory tea," which would typically be much less whole in leaf form.  It just lacks the brighter tones I tend to prefer.  

#4:  the balance of earlier flavors shifts some but it's similar enough that there isn't a lot to say about that.  Cedar like wood tone stands out as much as the mineral base now; that picked up.  

#5:  to me this improves as the character softens.  I'm not noticing much for interesting transition; it's in the same range.  

I gave the 6th infusion a little more time and the fruit / apricot range had started to emerge (a flavor reference to checking the archived product listing and description after the 5th round, in the following Conclusion section).  The balance was better than before, a good sign.  The 7th hadn't changed much more, but it wasn't less pleasant than any before, really hanging in there.  Sweetness may have came across even more, related to the heavier mineral and woody tones easing up.

Conclusion:

This felt a bit unsatisfying as reviews go.  The character had positive traits but I had trouble relating to the aspects, really related to preference issues.  It's not a favorite style for me, even though it's clearly pretty good tea.  

Then that makes me curious, how was this represented in the earlier website listing?  How was it described, and what was the pricing?  I looked that up in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, since it's not listed now:

Lùng Vài is located on the eastern side of Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain, the tallest mountain in Hà Giang province. This tea makes for a very interesting comparison to the high alpine fragrance teas of Thượng Sơn which is located on the western face of Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain.

This tea features a warming, honey-apricot flavor with herbal, nutty undertones. Brews up into a thick dark golden soup with light-medium bitterness and astringency. Nice huigan and focused qi for me.

Season: Spring 2022

Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves

Region: Lùng Vài, Phương Độ, Hà Giang

Elevation: 1000m-1100m

It lists for $48 but without a weight for the cake that doesn't mean anything.  I'd guess that this was a 200 gram cake priced on the costlier side related to what they sell, versus a 357 gram cake that was inexpensive, but it could have been either.  Hà Giang is their main tea production region for this range, per my understanding, so the theme of a local reseller getting deals on less conventional versions probably wouldn't apply to this, and it probably sold for an above average price from the producer.

Was it "honey apricot, herbal, and nutty?"  Maybe.  The flavors would've shifted some over 2 years so it shouldn't be identical to that description, it's just an interesting reference to consider.  Often teas will soften, gain depth, lose initial freshness, and trade out some brighter intense tones for warmer and deeper aspects, retaining most of the same flavors in a different form.  Over two years in a cool and dry location sheng doesn't change so much; in hot and humid storage a version really will.

I've avoided mentioning aging potential here.  I really don't know how this would change in two more years, or 15 more.  There's a relatively narrow profile for factory teas that seems to relate to one type of aging potential but these old plant, wild origin teas are something else.  Versions that are atypical for being oxidized a bit more probably still have good potential for very moderate further transition, over 2 or 3 more years, but not for the full 15 or 20 year cycle.  For this I don't know.

Viet Sun Lùng Vài Vietnamese white tea

 

Steve of Viet Sun sent a few extra samples with my last order; very nice, much appreciated!  White tea sounded good, so I'll try that one.

When considering what it might be like it occurred to me that I end up saying roughly the same thing about most white teas (and some other types too, really), that flavors can be novel and pleasant, and sweetness, but complexity and feel range tend to be limited.  So I can end up liking a tea but it's hard to not balance describing that with discussing limitations, about what aspects aren't as developed.

I hoped that at least this is in Moonlight White style range, my favorite white tea type, and it must be that, for looking like it [and from the description, which I didn't read until after the review].  Those tend to be extra fruity and sweet, really showing off what works well within white tea range.  Next maybe I like Bai Mu Dan best; those can be complex and intense, to an extent.  

Drifting off topic a little, I last drank an aged Gong Mei white last week, mixing it up, drinking different versions I have around.  I should probably save that for fasting; along with shu pu'er it's very mild on your stomach, ideal for when you aren't eating at all.  It's 8 years old now, reviewed 6 years ago, so already appropriately aged.

Per usual process I'll come back and add Steve's thoughts from a sales page later, and move on to review notes first (including all that sales page entry, since the content is interesting):

Lùng Vài White 2023

This tea was processed in the Moonlight White style from old and ancient trees in the Lùng Vài, Hà Giang.

Lùng Vài is northeast of Tây Côn Lĩnh mountain, the tallest mountain in Hà Giang province. Information about Lùng Vài and other wild origin tea producing areas here.

Nice 1 bud- 2-3 leaf picking. This tea has heavy sweetness with a complex floral fragrance. A light bitterness keeps the flavor profile in balance. Brews up a rich crimson gold soup that goes many rounds. Lasting huigan and strong qi.

I think this a great candidate for aging as the raw material quality is really high.

Very flexible and forgiving, I like brewing this tea with a lower leaf: water ratio at 90-100 degrees for long steeps. Grandpa and thermos brewing are also good options.

290 gram cakes ($0.15/ gram)

I'll add more thoughts on that in a Conclusion section.

Review:

first infusion:  fruity, but subtle still.  This is what you get for not using a rinse step with compressed tea; I'll start notes next round, giving this a longish infusion to get things moving (around 30 seconds).

second infusion:  this does actually have a nice creamy feel to it; that's an exception for how white teas can work out, not expressing structure or the same degree of velvety feel that even some black teas can show, as his black tea version I've been drinking does, but creaminess can be nice.

Fruit flavors are in a typical Moonlight White range.  I like those best when sweetness is really intense and they include some dried berry, and this is more towards melon, but it's still nice.  It's odd how I hate that general melon flavor range across all melons but watermelon (which doesn't have it anyway), in cantaloup, honeydew, and so on, but in tea as a trace aspect that's only similar I like it.  That's about the only fruit I don't like, beyond durian; guava is only so interesting but I would have some if it was in a breakfast buffet.

It's nice how complex this is; I guess that's another exception.  A simple and limited range of flavors can come across as somewhat complex if that includes enough supporting notes and tones, or even just forward flavors (berry with citrus and melon, for example).  Warm tones underlie this experience, and the creamy feel seems to connect to actual flavor range, so it's a little like a creamsicle (but not exactly; it doesn't match that artificial orange flavor).

third infusion:  warmth picks up; it's different.  It leans a little towards cinnamon, maybe just not exactly that.  Melon seems to be transitioning to warmer and heavier fruit range too, maybe moving a touch towards dried persimmon.  Sounds like I'm making that up, doesn't it, letting my imagination run a bit?  I think it really does though.  A light and counterbalanced version of melon, dried persimmon, and cinnamon is nice.  

Intensity is moderate in this, maybe even light, especially for me being accustomed to sheng and black tea range lately.  I'll need to keep compensating by using longer infusion times, 20-some seconds at least.  Lighter range flavors would probably show through better brewed wispy light but it's harder for me to appreciate that.  

Using full boiling point water would probably extract the most, without heavier flavors or astringency being an issue at all, so that's probably best.  I use hot water from a filtration and heating dispenser so it's not at full boiling point.  There's an electric kettle sitting on the table beside me but it's hard enough to get motivated to write these notes, and I have a list of things to do later.

fourth infusion:  warmer tones keep evolving, although brewing a tea slightly stronger will cause you to experience that range more, as I'd mentioned.  It's not so different than last round, but a richness might be picking up, an almost savory range.  Dried persimmon has a bit of savory edge to it, in addition to warm and rich fruit tones, so I'm just saying roughly the same thing in a different way.  If you visit a Chinatown you should pick up some of those; they're so nice.

It's nice how this is fruity but also well into sun-dried tomato range now.  White teas don't tend to transition this much.  I think I've emphasized that by leaning into brewing heavier, but it's still cool experiencing that.  

fifth infusion:  more of the same.  If anything a mineral base stands out more now, lending a slight metallic edge to the rest, in a way that's actually pleasant instead of off-putting.  It might be more natural for someone to interpret that as a warm forest floor note evolving, as a transition from cinnamon spice and warm dried fruit tone earlier.  Heavy mineral tone, similar to that from an artesian well, and warm earthy range, similar to early summer forest floor, are somewhat different, without much overlap, but in a sense those two impressions meet each other at one particular place.  It has a nice heavier tone supporting base; maybe it's as well to leave it at that.

sixth infusion:  really more of the same.  Somehow a touch of citrus tone picked up; that's odd, for it to increase at this place in an infusion cycle.  I was just going to say that's plenty for notes but let's try one more round.  

These leaves really should be fading a bit because I've been pushing them, using longer infusion times (20+ to 30 seconds instead of 10 to 15, which I use for more intense tea versions), but they probably have a few rounds left in them.  Late rounds can seem less interesting to me, and I get bored of writing, and it must be a lot to read.

seventh infusion:  this really is more of the same now, with less interesting heavier flavors picking up, tree bark and such.  It's still pleasant, but not as good.  That heavier range matches better with the shifted form of fruit, the citrus (like dried tangerine peel, I guess), than earlier lighter fruit probably would.  All in all this has been very pleasant.

Conclusions:

Really nice!  Moonlight White is my favorite white tea range, as I said, even though I've not had one in awhile, and this works as an example of why.  Flavor range is quite pleasant, and it overcomes limited white tea depth of experience for including a rich feel and layers of matching flavors.

I don't want to criticize Steve's interpretation too much, since it's perfectly valid to interpret teas in different ways, but let's go there and review his sales listing notes.  I didn't notice any bitterness in this tea, and main range seemed fruity, not really floral.  The non-distinct sweet and complex background could be either, to be fair, so that part still actually works.

On aging potential, it is interesting how few teas can become more appealing with age, so when that is probably the case it's worth discussing.  I agree that this tea would probably be equally pleasant in a different way in 5 to 10 years.  Some of that bright range would get swapped out for even more dried fruit and heavy flavors, some of which are present already, like the cinnamon spice.  It's so good now it would be hard for me to wait and hold onto it, even if I owned a good bit of it.

It seems natural to me to frame how good I judge this to be in relation to how it is presented.  Sometimes white teas are offered as that one really exceptional range version, something truly refined and novel, well worth a 50 to 75 cent asking price.  That's just not typically accurate, to me, related to having experienced a decent range of new and aged white teas, not so many but not only a few either.  Now that I think of it I've set aside some of a buds-only white tea cake years back (I bought in 2017, reviewed here, but I didn't know the age then); I should try that and pass on notes to help make that point.  

Then if a vendor claims that a white tea version is pleasant and novel, relatively refined and complex, with good aging potential, but still offers it in a normal price range that's more appropriate, to me.  White tea can be interesting and pleasant but not refined in the sense Wuyi Yancha or Dan Cong can be, and not complex and intense as sheng pu'er versions can.  In one sense tea cost and tea experience are two different things, so that you have the same actual final experience whether you pay 10 cents a gram or $1 for it, so all I'm saying here is that value can shift around, with descriptions sometimes seeming to extend beyond what a tea-type range tends to ever express. 

This 290 gram cake is now selling for $43; that's a great value.  Maybe it's priced a little low, really, for what this is, which in general is probably something I shouldn't type out very often in blog reviews, leaving off at only implying that.   

Of course white teas can be unique, complex, refined, and interesting, but to me there's a limit to all that.  Supply and demand probably factor in even more, than whatever this point was supposed to be about.

If someone could buy two of these cakes and drink the second one after 7 years of aging (that old norm for more positive transition), they would have something fairly novel on their hands.  To only buy one and set it all aside would seem strange to me though; this tea is good now.  It can work to buy a cake and forget about the second half; I do that sometimes.  That piece of pressed silver needle cake I didn't even own that much of; it had a back-story to it, about giving an entire cake version to a Thai princess.  Since it meant more to me I didn't drink it, if that makes any sense.