Shan Shui Spring 2006 Winter Yinya

Parameters:
7.5 grams for a 130 ml gaiwan; 10 second rinse, 15 seconds for first three steepings, adding on 10 seconds for each additional one.

Dry Leaves

According to Brian Wright from Shan Shui Teas, in terms of varietal and processing, Yinya is essentially Baozhong tea. However, the harvest is timed differently to include the buds of the tea plant as well as the leaves. This difference gives Yinya its name, which means "silver needle." The "silver needles" are refering to the buds, which appear a silver white.
(Enlarge the photo to take a closer look.)



Tasting Notes:

So when I first steeped this tea, the first though that came to my head was, "wow this tea is floral." There is a rich bouquet with rich color. There is also a slight sweet aroma that is very intriguing. It smells like honey, but more "plant-like," if that's even possible. The light roast on the tea makes it very mellow, giving it a smooth silky finish.





Conclusion

So I've been on a bit of a "green oolong" run this month, since all the samples I bought from Brian Wright were mostly lightly roasted oolongs. I'm beginning to appreciate greener oolongs more, but unfortunately this one did not hit the sweet spot for me. It's a bit too floral for my taste. Maybe it has something to do with all the green oolongs that I've been trying, and I'm tired of it. Next time I'll be reviewing a sample of winter TGY (highly roasted!) so it'll be interesting to compare that to the spring TGY I reviewed earlier.