United StatesGoldilocks cake
I loved this tea and I'm ordering a cake. I adored the Xigui Sweet Memories and would get that too but the price is a little too spicy for me. Dragonball rested 2 months, 208F, 30s cool gdb rinse then 20s+ cooling steeps. Very sugared gdb with some fruitiness and a noticeably sweet soup. It's thickish and lightly mouth coating, of clean laundry and floral undertones like lilac. Wet rocks, some toasted grain, and clover meadows making me happy. Pale golden brew. An energizing lovely soft tea.
United StatesMind-Blowing Sheng
This might be the sweetest sheng I've ever had. I got a 7g ball of this in the puerh sampler set and brewed it in my 100ml gaiwan using boiling water and a quick 5s rinse. Each subsequent steep was 5s. I typically avoid younger shengs as they can be quite harsh on the mouth and stomach, but this Kuashan material was anything but that!! The leaves, when opened, are quite large and intact as well and visually look stunning in the gaiwan and smell enticingly of melon and alfalfa/hay. This tea is very pleasant for a young sheng- it's full bodied and produces a lovely golden brew, yet has a lovely sweetness to each steep. By sweetness, I mean that it legitimately is sweet, tasting as if I were ******* on a bit of rock sugar as I drank it, yet it also has a lovely complexity to it. It is a very creamy tea, too, texturally and flavor wise- the note of watermelon, citrusy flavors, and grape skin is spot on. This is definitely a great sheng for the price and is easily one I'd recommend to beginners- it has a lovely complexity to keep one interested while also being sweet and friendly to those newer to shengs. I can see this aging very nicely, as well. Definitely a sheng for the ages!!
United StatesFor Long Summer Evenings
I didn’t expect to love this tea as much as I have. The minerality in the tea’s body pairs so well with its light sweetness. The tea has just enough going on to urge you to slow down and listen to its notes as it morphs through each brew but equally pairs with a (maybe less observant) conversational gong fu sesh with your partner, as it just goes down so easy. The distinct body feel and headspace of this puerh pairs well with those long summer sunsets.