Mansong tea has been a tribute tea since the Ming and Qing dynasties, and we are fortunate enough to savor its flavor today.
Just a light sip is unforgettable. After tasting Mansong tea, you will find that all other teas before were just substitutes. Mansong tea is both gentle and intense, richly sweet yet refreshingly clean, fragrant and enduring. When the tea broth enters your mouth, it feels like drinking thick and smooth lotus root starch, with its fine and thick texture flowing in your mouth, making you feel incredibly comfortable. The broth carries a faint orchid fragrance, a unique pine resin aroma, and a clear sweetness of wild honey, continuously bringing you new sensations.
After swallowing two infusions of the tea broth, you will experience the wonderful sensation of saliva welling up like a stream, with a dense flow of saliva in your mouth, followed by a returning sweetness. Your tongue will feel cool, and there's already a cooling sensation in your throat. After swallowing three infusions of the sweet, glutinous, and aromatic tea broth, the tea's fragrance rises with your breath, leaving you feeling deep and transparent. By the fifth infusion, even those with less sensitive physical sensations can feel warmth in their palms and a slight heat on their back. After drinking up to the seventh infusion, you'll feel comfortable and transparent all over, as if entranced. No wonder it was so favored by royalty.
The scarcity of Mansong tribute tea is self-evident. Though the tea mountain may be crowded and hard to access, very few people actually get to drink the tea. According to the first census in 2022, there are currently 5,034 ancient Mansong tea trees, with no more than a hundred being over 100 years old. Furthermore, due to excessive picking, there have been years when the number of ancient Mansong tea trees sharply declined.
At this rate, in the not-too-distant future, ancient Mansong tea might become a speck of dust in history. So, cherish every sip while you can!