2010 Bing Dao Yong Chun: Nice Traditional Bing Dao

Tea Urchin just listed a few of these a year or so ago.  I purchased a sample but the 2010 Bing Dao Yong Chun cake goes for $209.00 for 357g cake or $0.59/g.

Dry leaves smell of floral grassy lightness very sweet light and subtle.  A faint grassy candy floss and sweet floral odour.  Almost like ice creamy sweatness in a rainforest nuance slight vegetal nuance.

The first infusion has a nice dry stored peachy colour liquor with a creamy sweet vegetal approach initial.  The taste is simple in this first infusion of slight creamy vegetal forest with a sweet icing sugar candy finish.  The taste has a very mild candy even peach fruit finish.  A sweet and soft delicate presentation initially with a mild sticky mouthfeeling.

The second infusion becomes a bit stickier and very mildly astringent with vegetal forest note being the most dominant with some soft and subtle icing surgar and peachy candy in the finish.  The mouthfeel is nicely stimulating but the taste is quite simple and very subtle, sweet, and light.  The aftertaste is a very smooth very sweet long cooling with creamy, peachy, and icing sugar sweetnessess.  The Qi is relaxing and slows me down in this busy morning.

The third has an astringent obviously almost sour peach onset with vegetal underneath.  The initial burst of astringency and sweetness is strong and fast and moves slowly to a long cooling peach and icing sugar and creamy sweetness.  The Qi is relaxing and slowing, forcibly mellow.

The fourth infusion onset of stone mineral, astringent pear, and vegetal subtle bitter.  It comes as a quick burst then fades into pear, icing sugar, mild coolness, icing sugar in a long subtle aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is slippery and astringent in the mouth and the throat is mildly stimulated at the upper.  The Qi in nicely relaxing.

The fifth infusion has a quick burst of flavours fresh leaves turning to autumn, minerals, metallic, peach, moderate astringency and a bit bitter which turns to a pear like finish, slightly cooling with icing sugar, slight creaminess, The mouthfeel is a slippery almost puckering astringency.  The Qi is a nice mellow and relaxing in the mind.  I feel a calm from this puerh.

The sixth opens up with thick fruity notes, slight sour astringency, a long icing sugar cool finish.  The mouthfeel is long and slight puckering.  The Qi has a mild floating sensation.

The seventh infusion has a thick fruity sweet onset with faint vegetal bitter and some sour astringency mild and quick moving into a long fruity, icing surgar cooling sweetness.  The tastes are simple and consistent but the profile is nice and long and pops quick then ends slow.  This is a nice floating feeling to the Qi not in the body but the mind.

The eighth infusion starts of sour fruit less astringency and even less bitter then moves slowly and strongly to a pear icing sugar and almost vegetal returning sweetness.  There is a nice clarity to this puerh and the profile is long but simple.  The mouthfeeling becomes more of a mild slippery not that astringent quality now.

The 10^th infusion is a nice peachy onset with some mineral, vegetal, the sour, astringency, and bitter are less.  There is a long creamy sweetness here.

11^th starts off with sour peachy fruit with a mineral and vegitaliness faintly underneath the bitter and astringency is very very mild here.  There is a long pear and cooling sensation.

12^th has a sour pear and peach onset with slight vegitalness underneath the mouthfeel in these infusions are slippery and not really astringent.  This puerh doesn’t have a deep throat feeling or stimulation as soon as the astringency and bitter fall off.  The result is a aftertaste that is less long and flavourful.  The Qi is mild now.  A Chill relaxing feeling.

13^th has a sour sweet onset that comes fast and fades to a slightly cooling kind of vegetal astringency with a slight sweet fruit note.  The mouthfeel is becoming less complex here.

14^th a bit woody, some fruity, and a bit woody astringency with less long sweetness now.

15^th starts with a woody peachy astringency, still a nice long subtle coolness in the aftertaste.  Peach notes on a vegetal base with slight creamy edges.

I long steep the 16^th and 17^th infusions and it pushes out some bitter astringency some fruit but a nice deep pungent cooliness and stimulating throatfeeling.

Vs 2016 YS this 2010 Yong Chun is traditionally processed and has a lot more astringency and bitter which do it well but doesn’t give it as much elegance as YS.  I think interesting aspects of the YS might age out somewhat anyways.  Similar price, I think the 2010 Bing Dao Yong Chun will age better but I like the 2016 Yunnan Sourcing Bing Dao because it has way more interesting depth at 4 years of age.  The gushu modern processing and especially the Kunming Dry storage is making this one shine now.   I guess the fact that I didn’t really consider a purchase on either says, to me that these are nice Bing Dao, enjoyable for sure, but you are really just paying the premium for the Bing Dao name.  These aren’t spectacular Bing Dao puerh so you are kind of just paying for the name of a famous area for a puerh that is pretty good, Ok… very good but maybe a little bit overpriced for what you are getting but still enjoyable.  You are essentially paying for the name Bing Dao but overall nice traditional processed Bing Dao. It’s temping… you can read how I slowly talk my way down from this one…. Hahaha

Peace