Friday, September 14, 2018

2015 Zheng Si Long Wa Long & Productive Qi



When you say “Wa Long” my mind thinks immediately of intensely sweet Yiwu material with basically no bitterness and miles of deliciousness…. Mmmmmm… I wonder if this Wa Long can satisfy my presumption about this growing area?  This Wa Long goes for $156.24 for 400g cake or $0.39/g.

The dry leaves smell of creamy intensely sweet woody Yiwu-ness.  The odour has a fruity cherry character to it as well as a candy like sweet smell…

First delivers an intensely creamy icing sugary sweet fluffy cotton candy intense sweet deliciousness.  There is a long cool faint menthol that hangs out mildly in the background as not to disturb the intensity of the sweetness.  This is intensely and beautifully sweet stuff.

The second infusion at least half of the sweetness has vaporized in its volatility but still there is enough of that to go around.  The very distant wood note, like a rainforest, lingers throughout.  The mouthfeel is light and stimulates the edges of the tongue, it has a tingling feeling to it not at all vacuous.

The third develops some dragon fruit and pear taste as a layer to its intense sweetness.  Very Faint woodiness is almost overlooked completely over draping, very distinct Yiwu sweetness. The Qi is big in the head very weighty and muddling, happy and energizing.  In the body it can be felt in the heart.

The fourth infusion has a fruitier than sweet onset- pear, plum, distant tropical.  There is a slight almost sour/bitter wood taste underneath.  The mouthfeel is thin but slight sticky on the tongue.  It’s more on the tongue than the throat.  The aftertaste is a continuation of sweet fruits.

The fifth almost has a pungent menthol initial taste which swells in the mouth and tongue.  There is a subtle woody, rainforest taste throughout.  It has a sweet bready yeasty finish indicating a few years of more humid storage.

The sixth infusion has a woody, plum, and slightly sour taste to it.  The tongue develops a chalky bitterness to it, which is mild.  The aftertaste is bready, fruity, woody and has a yam note in there as well.  Nice mild menthol finish, more fruitiness trails off.

The seventh has a woody plum and tropical edge taste presenting initially.  The intensity of the first few infusions can’t be found any more but a faint trace in the aftertaste.  What remains are classic Yiwu woody, plumb, foresty tastes.  Slight bitter and sour but very faint.  A sweet bread finish in the mouth.

The eighth has more of a malty woody plumy fruitiness.  The tastes of this tea have some depth to them in the stimulating but mild tongue coating.  The throat only opens mildly to welcome these flavours in.  The Qi is heady, alerting, cloudy.  In the body it races the heart slightly and you can still feel it in the stomach.  It makes for a very productive day…. This is that Qi that makes you want to get stuff done.  It gives you a sort of clarity and focus but also a nice surge of energy especially mental energy.

Ninth is nicely woody, plumb, almost soapy sweetness with a ghostly edge of that intense sweetness almost gone now as it lingers with fruits in the aftertaste.

Tenth has a nice deep mellow fruity woody Yiwu thing going on.  The fruit flavor is complex enough in the mouth.  Slight menthol lingers.  A good Yiwu profile, yummy!

Eleventh and twelfth is steeped with a good 15 seconds longer than flash and much more tropical fruits are pushed out the wood is mellow in the background now. Tropical fruity with a menthol background.

13th & 14th are pushed longer and a woody dryness with fruity edges so very Yiwu.

This tea has such a wonderfully productive Qi to it.  Its effects leaves the mind in a profoundly focused state.  I imagine I could have done a few more steeps out of this one easy but instead I was way way too busy getting stuff done!

Peace


 



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