Bogwood Whispers

Tea: 2024 Yueyang Huangya (岳阳黄牙) Type: Yellow Tea, Orthodox Yellowing, External Fuzz (外豪)Harvest: April 2024Region: Yueyang County, Yueyang Prefecture, HunanProducer: Jiang FamilyTasting Notes: Cured Meat, Corn, Oats. Yellow tea for the yellow-pilled. Even at first glance, these plump dull green buds are a cut above most of what is marketed as "Junshan Yinzhen." Following this style to a letter, this tea hits the tongue slowly, filling the mouth gently with a creamy thick broth that is without green tea sharpness or red tea yam-like sweetness. In colder weather, it is a welcome companion both to hearty meals and sugary sweets. It is energizing like a green tea, but easier on the stomach. Bogwood Whispers deserves a place along side roasty oolongs and red teas this holiday season. Grown and picked near the eastern shore of Dongting Lake in Yueyang County, this tea is one of hundreds inspired by Junshan Island's famous yellow Yinzhen. Bogwood Whispers is as close as one can get to the official on-island Yinzhen without paying such outrageous prices. It is of the same pick grade as Lao Rao's Yellow Buds, but the degree of yellowing is in no way comparable. Having rested in a humid storage room during a particularly scorching Hunan Summer, this yellow tea is in a sweet spot now where it is completely mellow and without astrigency, but also still bursting with fragrance.