While the general formula has been the same for 5 years, Body & Soul v5 is likely the fruitiest pressing we’ve had yet. While the shou portion comes from 2017 Menghai material, we deviated from Fengqing this time around and opted for spring Jinggu shaihong (sun dried) material. Aside from a noticeable fruitiness, a slight woody quality offers pleasant contrast. Meanwhile the shaihong holds down the finish with an excellent huigan (returning sweetness). It might be us, but this blend also seems to offer a fuller texture this time around. This tea is always one we look forward to each year, as the interplay and balance between the two types is never the same year to year. This is equally true for how the tea ages. The two types are more distinguishable shortly after pressing, but our experience from previous pressings is that the flavours and qualities meld and develop over time. What started out as an experiment gone very right, this budget-friendly tea is a good one to double up on for both near term drinking and long-term storage. $0.13/gram
