4 gr each

Dong Ding (凍頂) is a mountain in Nantou, Taiwan. The plants that grow there come from Wuyi. Terroir is special, produces very deep tea.

I had a cold when tasting, and everything I drank or ate tasted peculiarily salty; and I think I completely missed any retronasal olfaction.

First Round (50s): Nose peachy and fresh in (1) (2) (3), but freshest in (1). (1) Cup mineralic, salty! Really peculiar; lacking in fruitiness (2) Little bit more baked, clay (3) very round body, hints of salt, hints of clay. (4) very round nose, a little bit of dried fruit. Again, very salty in mouth, and a bit thin (5) more towards burnt caramel in the nose, less salty, but mostly clay (6) sweet caramel nose. A little bit of caramel sweetness (yeah, salty caramel).

Second Round (40s): (1) woody, almost meaty nose. No more freshness. Little taste in cup, but some structure. Thin and light wood (2) Quite round nose, some wood, no fruit. Still quite salty; extremely good structure in mouth. Almost too tanninic as it chills (3) a bit of sanxia nose; translates a tiny bit into cup, cup otherwise mellow and pleasant. (4) very nice and round nose, wood and Dong Ding feeling. Good structure, quite dense actually. Not so much taste. Actually, again, too tanninic as it chills (5) A faint hint of burn, but maybe also just my imagination. Also in cup; a bit flat. (6) Quite round again; but also burnt in cup. Burnt caramel.

Third Round (60s): (1) elegant nose, good mix of wood and fruit. a bit of burnt wood or old shelves in cup. (2) similar to (1), but more green mixed in. Very very nice, a bit of quinxin greenery comes through, but nicely embraced but woods. (3) possibly best Dong Ding representation. Similar to (2), less pronounced, more round. Deterioates less when chilled. (4) some incense in nose, medium pleasant. Brutally metallic / sanguine in cup. (5) quite nice, some sweetness. Cup dry and a bit burnt? (6) sweetness and rotten meat. Cup of ash.

2 gr each

茶王树 (three kings), it's a village in Guafengzhai, Yiwu. Guafengzhai is an area far East of Yiwu, on the border with Laos. It is a village of Yao minority people surrounded by mountain jungles, with three main tea picking areas; Chaping, Baishahe, and Chawangshu

Menglin sais: Nektar von Sommerblumen. Sie entfalten sich im Sonnenbad und duftet süß und zugleich holzig. Er ist süß, aber nicht gefällig. Er ist holzig aber nicht streng.

First Round (50s): (1) nose quite fresh, fresh green peaches, hint of maritime notes. It's also fresh in the cup, a bit stoney and dry. Very long echo. (2) Lost the freshness in the nose, it's all maritime now. Cup quite similar to (1), but a little less freshness, but a thicker texture. (3) Again, nose has no freshness, but instead there's a dry forest floor. Not freshness in the cup, but instead clay; and clay texture, a faint thick honey. (4) Nose neither fresh nor sweet, reminds me of white houses in the mediterranean; hot rock. The cup is similar, surprisingly thin. Balanced, long; a bit of cucumbers comes through? (5) Nose similar to (4), but joined with some sweetness. Yes, indeed more sweetness also in the cup; which carries the flavour so much better. (6) More sweetness still in the nose, almost honey-like now; same for the cup.

Second Round (40s): (1) Nose still fresh, but more forest-y rather than floral; pine needles? Thin cup, but fresh, some waxy peach now, a tingling like pine again. (2) Similar, but more toned down. Humus? I find it cloyingly thick in the cup now, like drinking clay; not terribly pleasant. (3) Also quite toned down, some rocks. Gains back some brilliance over (2) in the cup, but remains very quiet, balanced; a bit waxy. (4) good balance, good texture, some fruits. (5) slightly more sweetness. (6) more sweetness, more wood aromas.

Third Round (60s): (1) fresh, cucumbers and green peaches still, but also some wood. (2) Also fresh, kräftig, but slightly more wood. (3) woodier, lost freshness. (4)-(6) same as before.

Summary: 2gr, 50s, 40s, 60s; Menge fand ich ausreichend. Ähnliches Verhalten wie bei Dong Ding. Merkmale der Kannen über die 3 Aufgüsse konsistent, und Unterschiede linear. (1) sehr frisch, grüne Pfirsiche und manchmal auch Gurken, eher dünne Suppe. Von (2) bis (4) zunehmend dicker, Verlust an Frische, Waldboden-Noten nehmen zu. Sehr balanciert. (5) und (6) bringen Süße dazu, bei (6) soweit sogar, dass eine Honig-Note dazukommen. (1) mein Favorit, weil sehr frisch, aber auch (3) für seine perfekte Balance und (6) für seine tragende Süße toll.