This Mengding Huangya started with a floral sunflower fragrance, then turned into sweet corn. As the infusions went on, it felt as though I was biting into the core of the corn, then drinking the roots and leaves brewed together. The surprise came late: Infusion 9 was the best of the session. Sweet corn again, like the first infusion but sweeter.
The tea and brewing setup
The yellow tin is labelled 蒙顶黄芽 (Mengding Huangya), 特级 (special grade), with a net weight of 51 g. The label gives Ya’an, Sichuan as the production location. The dry leaf is slender, with many bud-shaped pieces.
Leaf: 5 g
Vessel: ~90 ml porcelain gaiwan
Water: Volvic
Temperature: 85°C throughout
Rinse: None
Ten infusions: 20s → 25s → 30s → 40s → 45s → 60s → 90s → 2m → 3m → 4m.
Before the first sip
The warmed dry leaf had a floral sunflower fragrance. After brewing, the lid smelled of sweet corn. The cup carried a heavier sweet-corn aroma.
Infusion by infusion
1 — 20 seconds
Pale gold colour. Tastes like sweet corn with a bite to it. Very mild bitterness.
2 — 25 seconds
The bite turns more bitter and leaves an aftertaste. The sweet-corn sweetness is still there. It seems like I’m biting into the core of the corn as well.
3 — 30 seconds
The bite becomes the main body. It is as though the root and the leaves, the core of the corn, are brewed together.
4 — 40 seconds
Same as Infusion 3, with tongue coating and aftertaste.
5 — 45 seconds
Same. The corn core, root and leaves continue through another infusion, with the bitter bite, tongue coating and aftertaste.
6 — 60 seconds
Bitterness lessens. Same profile.
7 — 90 seconds
Same but blander.
8 — 2 minutes
The colour subsides. Tastes like Infusion 1: back toward sweet corn after the stronger core, root and leaves of the middle infusions.
9 — 3 minutes
The best infusion of the session. Sweet corn. Like No. 1, but sweeter.
This was the standout. After the bitter middle stretch and the blander seventh infusion, the tea returned to a sweeter version of its opening character.
10 — 4 minutes
The sweetness also fades now. This was where I ended the session.
Spent leaves
Grassy, beany, mildly sweet aroma. Supple leaves. The wet leaves show yellow-green and olive tones, with many slender buds and young-leaf pieces visible.
What stayed with me
Sweet corn, then the corn’s core, roots and leaves, then sweet corn again. That progression is what I’ll remember about this tea. The middle infusions had a bitter bite and a coating aftertaste, but the ninth infusion brought the sweetest and most enjoyable cup of the session.
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