Wednesday, August 29, 2018

2013 Fangmingyuan Nannou: Cheap and Good


This tea goes for $60.61 for 357g cake or $0.17/g.  It’s rare to find a decent Nannou for this these days…

Dry leaves have notes of pear and pomegranate, florals underneath.

The first infusion has a sour and peach like taste with woody notes in the aftertaste and layer into a slightly creamy sweet, slightly floral and slightly woody aftertaste in mild menthol afterpinnings.  The mouthfeel is sticky and the liquor is reasonably thick.

The second infusion has woody, florals and peach notes in a thick mouthfeeling and broth.  The mouthfeel wonderfully paints the mouth and tongue in this consistency. There is a more complex interplay of layered flavours in the mouth here.

The third infusion has a roasted sweet nut onset with woody notes underneath.  The woody taste is throughout with florals and slight creamy sweet in the aftertaste over woody notes.  Qi knows the shortcut into the brain for sure, sharpening it under its influence.  Relaxing the mind as things slow.  It has a warming feeling in the body and even the face starts to sweat.

The fourth infusion has a sour peach, fuzzy peaches, taste to it.  The floral note in this infusion is more perfume and obvious.  It has a more pronounced menthol taste as well.  Nice and thick in the mouth.

The fifth infusion starts off with a strong sour fruit taste of grapefruit and citruses.  The floral sweetness caps of the end in the aftertaste.  This infusion is fruitier.

The sixth and seventh infusion have a dense woody bitterness with fruity and floral tastes that comes out more in the aftertaste.  The dry woody profile is found throughout.  A medicinal cooling returning sweetness drapes over woody notes.

The eighth I had horrendously over stepped it. So that’s that!

Overall a nice and thick plantation Nannou-ish thing.  It shares some characteristics of Nannou that I have encountered before but are not the typical Nannou profile such as citrus notes as well as some astringency.  I don’t think I would have guessed it to be Nannou origin but it does display some of the typical floral, creamy sweetness and thick cottony mouthfeel which I enjoy from a good Nannou.  I would have guessed more Northern, I think.

Out of the three Fangmingyuan for sale at Tea Encounter, I like this one the best for the price.  This tea has a pretty intensely simulating mouthfeel for something so inexpensive.  $0.17/g you can’t get anything close to something as stimulating and interesting in the mouth for that.  This is a tea for the mouthfeel for sure, but Qi, bodyfeeling, and flavor are solid enough for the price.  For that reason, I picked up a few cakes of this.  It currently looks like it’s sold out but more should be on its way from China.  Keep watch if this sounds like something you would be interested in.

Peace

No comments: