A subtle finesse is necessary if you want to rise to the top, and this tea is a lesson in ascending to power. Do not confuse this tea’s gentle character in the early steeps for weakness. Its personality develops brew by brew, with the mouthfeel becoming more and more full and the huigan (returning sweetness) creeping in by way of the throat and spreading until it dominates the mouth. All of this is accompanied by a slight astringency and roughness that dissolves quickly. Although Youle/Jinuo mountain bridges the gap between Yiwu and Menghai, this tea’s profile leans more towards Yiwu, with a pleasant, gentle fragrance and excellent aftertaste. Historically, the mountain is quite interesting. One of the original 6 Famous Tea Mountains, and at one point the political center and representative for all 6, Youle/Jinuo mountain is home to “the last minority”, the Jinuo people, who were the last ethnic minority group to become recognized in modern China. To this day, they almost exclusively make this mountain their home. Their history of tea cultivation on the mountain goes back over 1000 years, with up to 4000 acres of tea trees planted during the Ming dynasty. Picking period: Pre-March 30 $0.58/gram
