Biyun Hao

4.3g, 90 mL ZZZ

replaced my water filter yesterday which brought out more fruity mineral profile today. feeling is same as usual, present and relaxing but still able to work and do other things in the background.

Lately, I’ve realized that I really like this type of feeling that is present but still allows me to do work or whatever either during or later. I didn’t identify it earlier on, but I’ve realized speed test winning teas for me all fit this profile of being reasonably strong, but comfortable to drink. So even when I was complaining about it not being quite worth the price before, I was compelled to drink it when I have plenty of other teas around. I do wish this were cheaper, but none of the cheaper teas I own that taste fine, or even good, feel quite as nice.

4.1g, 90 mL ZZZ

wet: light smoke, berry jam

1. smoke, light bitter, plummy sweet. Some salivating. Gentle feeling

2. light incense, plum, floral, tart. A bit blanketing and downward

3. woody, pear in finish

Didn’t take notes after, but nice today. It’s relaxing and decently strong without being overwhelming. If I had to choose, I really still think the MZ is stronger/more impactful, but this is different and interesting as well. If you only have the money for one though, my pick would be the MZ.

5.5g, 90 mL ZZZ

wet: fruity, smoke, tart, medicinal

1. smoke, plum, floral, berries, bitter underlying. salivating

2. a bit more green. Slight bitter, but sweet ending. A bit of tartness and aftertaste in throat

3. good texture, gripping. some bitterness and sour.

4. thinner, greenish bitter dull taste w floral edges

5. broadly smoky, some sweet in finish

6-8. leaf-y taste like usual.

I moved my sample to my 30c hotbox and that seems to have enhanced it a bit. I still don’t think this tea speaks to me in particular, but maybe I need to stop hate drinking it expecting it to radically change since it wasn’t cheap…

5.7g, 90 mL ZZZ, Brita tap, boiling
dry leaf: fruit, slightly fishy? strange
wet leaf: powder-y incense, sweet, fruit, light smoke

1. some pill-like bitterness upfront dissolving into a candied sweetness, floral, strong mouthcoat.
2. weaker taste. Aftertaste is honeyed. slight medicinal bitter
3. woody sweet
4-6. light, light generic aged sheng taste, bit of light mint and mushroom
7. mugged but similar

Feeling was nice. Much more gentle downward pull than yesterday’s LLL liubao, though still noticeable. Overall relaxing, slightly slowed thinking and somewhat caffeinating+mood boosting. For the price, my three sessions have all had somewhat poor longevity so a little disappointing compared to what others have said about it…

5.9g, 90mL, boiling, mixed water

1. bitterness that dissipates immediately into candied florals on tongue. bit of medicinal woody taste and maybe watermelon rind white part. some oversteeped hongcha taste reminiscent of the 04 nannuo gushu from TWL. Engaging and dyamic

2. more medicinal taste. heating, and sinking in center chest

3. dull leaf taste like most of my YQH. nothing like steeps 1 and 2

4. still dull, but feeling seems intact

5. kill steep. sappy mushroom taste and some bitterness when cooled

this is the second time I’ve had this tea and maybe the cake edges are just not very good compared to when i had the MZ. Will need to revisit down the line bc for the hype this tea gets, both sessions w this were disappointing. I guess I’m glad to have a cake to revisit, since the other tea I remember being amazing upfront and then dying almost immediately was one of the YQH jinchas. An experience akin to fireworks…

A little under the weather recently and usually drink darker things in this case, but have been wanting to check in on this so this was second tea of the day. Can’t comment too much on feeling in this case, but I’m happy with the direction this seems to be heading in.

3.5g, 70 ml TWL gaiwan, having learned from the initial experience. Stuck with mostly flash steeps.

Some light bitterness that fades quickly, and pleasant sticky sweet florals in the aftertaste. Very lovely. Apricot notes are gone, while some of the youthful minty notes are still present as steeps progress. Longevity is good, but I had to end it early again as the feeling in the stomach is still green. I look forward to revisiting down the line.

5.6g/90mL/212f in a gaiwan, Brita filtered tap.

Drank this with a lunch guest back to back with Zipin. A mistake, though my friend was a very good sport about it lol. Have had bad reflux symptoms more and more lately, so have had to stick to lighter meals and avoid tea for the most part.

Anyway, the tea was nice, but punchier than expected. I had a poor frame of reference for this going in I think, since most things I choose to drink in the limited time I have for longer sessions are things with some age (mostly >15 yrs+), so I didn’t expect this to taste quite so young. Lingering floral, apricot, and licorice notes, and a trailing string of bitterness throughout from brewing with too heavy of a hand, most likely. Stopped at around 5 steeps, but could’ve continued a bit longer. Wisp of smoke on the wet leaf at some point. Dried leaves after steeping were still very floral.

Some quieting and a burst of warmth that gave way to cooling. Friend didn’t think of it as warming at all though, so maybe just something for me.