2019 Still Love You is a special shou puer that is made of, “…100 to 200-years-old, and adding an infusion made from Agarwood and Sweet Rice Scent Leaf,” from Bana Tea Company.
Sweet Rice Scented tea isn’t too uncommon, but Agarwood is, at least here in the west. I haven’t had Agarwood in tea myself. A few times I had a chance to try I wanted to shell out for an outrageously priced tasting session of around $85 for an agarwood shou.
This 100gram cake is $18 at this time. “Infusion” is likely the keyword here to make the price low. It was a no brainer for me to buy 2019 Still love You as 1. affordable agarwood and 2. Bana Tea / Vesper Chan has some of the best shous out there.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The shou cake as a sweet woody scent.
I used around 1 gram of leaf per 14ml of vessel size. I made 2 rinses. The hot leaf smells distinctly like sticky rice leaf and churchy incense.
Tasting of Bana Tea Company’s 2019 Still Love You Shou Puer
First and Second Infusion: I tried the rinse on this shou as it smelled so intriguing that I couldn’t wait to get in. I wondered if the scented nature will be more present in the wash than later infusions, so I set aside the wash.
Right off the bat, this tea is oily, like I sloppily drank melted butter. The first infusion is creamy slick, with milky sweet rice notes as the main flavor, with a background of earthy inky shou. Uncharacteristically, there is a warm spice aftertaste that woodsy, abrasive bark, and a mix of frankincense, myrrh, and sandalwood incense.
Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: The third infusion of 2019 Still Love You shou puer hit motor oil status. 2019 Still Love You shou puer is inky dark and drinks in strongly of earthy oily shou. The flavors are reversed now as the finish being creamy sweet rice, with the aftertaste of agarwood incense getting stronger and lingering in the mouth. The stronger the agarwood aftertaste gets, the peatier and cigar like it goes.
By the fourth infusion, my ears are buzzing like I had my head inside a giant bell or feeling the reverb of a gong. Is Agarwood supposed to have Qi? I check with what Cwyn wrote with her experience with Agarwood tea and seems right, ha! I lost track of 4-6th infusion enjoying the peaty tea and my head ringing like a gong.
Seventh and Eighth Infusion: 2019 Still Love You shou puer lost motor oil status awhile ago, but this later infusion holds onto that oily slick thick texture. It drinks like melted butter, though the flavor got thin of steeped out dirt and wood. The aftertaste is still strongly woodsy, incense and peat and my head feels like it’s full of cotton batting.
Ninth Infusion: I’ve been steeping these generously long around 20 minutes. I likely could go longer if I was using a teapot (though, would I use a teapot is a question, due to the added infusion of sweet rice and agarwood?) This steep is light, sweetly woody. 2019 Still Love You shou puer still drinks with a texture of butter.
Going back to that rinse I saved, and whoa that’s strong sweet rice flavor!
The steeped leaf looks highly fermented with the deep browns and just a touch of green. I can also see how they pulled a lower price as there’s a bit of stem in there. This tea has some wiggle room and time to mellow out.
Comments
Bana Tea Company’s 2019 Still Love You shou puer is an interesting tea, to say the least. It starts off very approachable with the sweet rice creamy notes, then evolves into motor oil and grow hair on your chest kind of tea with the woodsy, incense, and peaty notes. This tea drinks like a meal with a thick texture and robust flavor.
I struggle to think the best audience for this tea – it’s unique, but the sweet rice thang will throw hardcore shou drinkers off, as sweet rice is usually reserved for newer shou drinkers. But the agarwood and quality of a Vesper Chan tea via Bana Tea Company are enough to raise the temptation. Overall, I am happy I bought it. I regret not purchasing more but I got so much tea in my stash that I shouldn’t.
