Speaking of
Essence of Tea....
2017 EOT Spring Nancai - I had read reviews of this tea so grabbed a sample when it was recently put back in circulation. Started out savory butternut squash pumpkin seed soft char note bamboo yeast pepper plus a hint of someother spice maybe tarragon. Second steep has the same profile but now a lovely mint note on the end, which adds a fresh lively quality. Some pleasiing bitterness when pushed. This tea shone when brewed in a hong ni teapot really, the clay and high firing seemed to articulate the pepper tarragon mint notes which seemed to get a little muddled in a zini teapot. This is one of my new favorites from EOT.
2018 EOT Autum Guafengzhai - I had tried and loved the Spring version of this tea but I was expecting this to be a shadow of the Spring version but I was wrong. This had the same profile of lovely Roasted Sweet Butternut squash soft fried smoke char note pumpkin seed bamboo and sweetness on the end. A gardenia bitterness sneaks in during the later steeps, less noticable in a zini teapot but much more emphasized in a high fired hong ni pot. The feel andintensity of this tea was more restrained when compared to the Spring version...but not as understated as I had expected. The Qi seemed to be calm inducing whereas the Spring version seemed to be more energetic and intense..although I am heistant to trust my neophyte attempts to observe Qi
This tea comes in a small 200g cake...a wonderful treat for those of us who missed out on stocking up on the Spring version. Another new favorite of mine.
I loved both teas...they were kindred spirits of sorts having similar flavors. I enjoy the Nancai ever so slightly more only because of the pepper mint tarragon spices....but they are both lovely teas that put me in the mind of a crisp Fall day for some reason.
@tingjunkie - Thanks for the review of your Spring Wuliang H cake. I was curious about it - especially in comparison to the 2018 Wuliang Wild.
