Going through samples is one of my favourite things to do if I can decide which one to drink. For today’s session, I went with the 2014 Wang Bing Shen Tai from Vin-Satori. Their other teas gave me a feeling of summer and that is exactly what I needed today.
2014 Wang Bing Shen Tai
This is a sheng puerh tea from 2014 and comes from the Yiwu area. Shen Tai implies that it comes from a natural environment where the trees are not old enough to be called ‘gushu’. Wang Bing teas come from the Lee family, who have been producing tea for 5 generations. The garden is located at an altitude of around 1400m above sea level.
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Tea Tasting
- Water 99°C
- 5.2g for a 120ml Dicaoqing teapot
This one consists of really big leaves that are loosely compressed and easy to pick apart. I mainly see olive tints like dark beige and olive green. These leaves are looking really good! The aroma has traces of dry wood and it’s also fruity.
Infusion 1 (15 sec): the colour is a faded orange and the liquor looks really thick. The leaves don’t look seven years old and it doesn’t taste that way either. It tastes more like young sheng of 2-3 years old. It’s slightly fruity with a hint of tobacco. Really good infusion!
Infusion 2 (20 sec): the colour of this one has changed and it is a faded yellow now. It feels really thick; almost like drinking syrup. The undertone is fruity and it feels like summer in a cup. The aftertaste has some slight hints of melon, so really sweet and refreshing.
Infusion 3 (25 sec): not too different from the previous infusion, but now I’m starting to get hints of incense. Some fresher notes are coming through in the finish and aftertaste. It’s almost as if I have drunk fresh maocha! Really interesting infusion. It feels like a fresh sheng without anything too fresh.
Infusion 4 (30 sec): It’s really starting to feel like fresh maocha with an incense undertone. Really nice infusion and not what you would expect from a tea of this age.
Infusion 5 (40sec): it’s more yellow now. It still looks thick and it has lost its fresh character. It is similar to what I got during infusion 2. The incense is definitely noticeable and it works well with a fruity touch.
Infusion 6 (50 sec): no big changes. It’s an enjoyable tea with gentle flavours. I also talked about this when drinking their other teas (like their 2009 Hou You 9026), but their teas really feel like drinking a cup of summer (if that is even possible). The fruitiness feels like it has some sunshine in it.
Conclusion
The 2014 Wang Bing Shen Tai was a really interesting and enjoyable tea because it changed a lot during the session. It started out tasting like 2-3-year-old sheng puerh and changed into tasting like fresh maocha. The later infusions were back to 2-3-year-old sheng. it definitely felt younger than it actually is!
This is a really fruity tea that is almost like drinking a cup of summer. If you want to try the 2014 Wang Bing Shen Tai, click here.
