2013年冰岛古树普洱生茶饼

Very enjoyable, a tea to take out on special occasions or something to really sit with, lots of bright notes, it's a bit of a trip. It would be a waste to drink this mindlessly. I heated my Yixing Zisha 100ml teapot and threw in 5g of the dry leaves to release some of the aromatics and take a whiff: very sweet, fruit cake, creamy scents. 1st infusion (95c throughout) - 30seconds - for a first impression taste: very smooth, elegant, light, sweet, watering, and exceptionally non-offensive. The wet leaves, i close the lid and let them cool down a little to take a whiff, the aroma starts to show lots of floral notes, some kind of bouquet of flowers, or like walking into a flower room at a grocery store. 2nd infusion - 30seconds - it's still quite light (not thick), floral, cheese cake, becoming creamy. 3rd infusion - 35seconds - taste becoming more developed, starting to taste more like an oolong. 4th infusion - 40seconds - yes, definitely could confuse this with a green milky/floral oolong. when I first take a sip there is a tinge of bitterness for a split second that dissipates (might be the citrus note people are mentioning), and then creeps in with an overwhelming of creaminess/frosting/floral cheesecake notes. This two stages are quite polarizing from each other. 5th infusion - 50seconds - everything from the previous infusion but even more developed and stronger, with the addition of a new note which grabbed me by surprise, after the creamy floral cheesecake now evolves into a fresh mint leaf. I do not mean the mint flavor you get in candy or the cooling effect of mint, it's more like the greenness you get from a fresh plucked mint leaf. I guess you can say this cheese cake had like a single fresh mint leaf on top and I've finally gotten to it. My mouth is a bit dry at this point now too. 6th infusion - 65seconds - I am losing the different aroma/note stages and it all happens at once and lingers for quite a while, could have steeped it a bit longer. 7th infusion - 120seconds - mouth quite dry/astringent now, aroma less strong. 8th infusion - 10minutes - I decide to make a really strong 8th infusion, I lose everything from before and it's now a bit bitter and getting some peachy notes. I hope this helped. Quite feminine and light. When I say light, I do not mean light in aroma but rather the thickness, because those bright aroma notes are medium strong. Can't say much on how I feel because I am already quite caffeinated from drinking sheng all day.

I think this tea doesn't lack in any department, it's very citrus-forward and has enough complexity to never get boring. You can definitely drink it now but you can also store it, it'll likely benefit from ageing. In my opinion this is one of the few more expensive, young teas which is worth its price tag.

I really liked the sample I tried. It is a tea with a complex and very full flavor. As you take steps it evolves and in the flavor you can identify the citrus nuances characteristic of this area that I like to find when I drink Bing Dao, I have used 10 grams in a single session and a lot of steps came out while maintaining strength in the flavor. I think the evolution of this tea over time will be very good.

This tea is a great example for bing dao and its significant character and complex taste profile which I love. Ive deducted one star because at least at this state (young raw) it was lacking something for my taste. I only had two sessions from my sample so I can't tell you exactly what it was. But for those who want to try out this terroir I would recommend getting a sample of this!