A great deal for 4 very different sheng Puers.
Gua Feng Zhai: smallish leaves with a few buds. Very smokey, leathery and mineral. It should be brewed with caution, or the bitterness will be very noticeable. Not a tea for me right now, but maybe after some aging. I guess fans of a robust, smoky whiskey will like it now.
Xi Gui: my favorite of the 4. Aromas of flowers, rock sugar, a summer garden after a rain shower with hints of bergamot. Definitely the most sweet and intense tasting, with peaches, cooked pear, and aromatic wood. Sweet and rounded, comforting and very alive in the mouth. Love it!
Bing Dao: Big whole leaves. Aromas of melon rind, ripe yellow fruits, baked blackcurrant pie with hints of mint. The taste is woody and sweet, verging on lacquer and mango. It has got some cooling sensation in the throat, but not as prominent as other Bing Dao's I've tried.
Lao Ban Zhang: second place for me. LOTS of aromas, more than the other 3 combined. Like grapefruit, cooked strawberries, crust of a white bread, poppy seeds, freshly cut flower stems, lacquered wood, and a little bit of smoke and mint. Taste is less prominent, but reminds me of an aged tea; lacquered teak wood, leather and stone, with some fruity peach in the aftertaste.
What unites them though, is a very potent tea energy/qi. Most likely due to the Gu Shu material.
I think they will age well, but I don't think I will find out for the Xi Gui or the Lao Ban Zhang, as I will probably have drunk them up by then 😆
