2026 Xiu Ning Song Luo

Xiu Ning Song Luo — Songluo Tu Zhong cultivar. 3g. 100 ml gaiwan. 85°C water.

The dry leaves are tightly rolled, small, deep green. The surface is clean. A faint roasted peanut note sits low, with a trace of pine resin held close.

Warmed in the gaiwan, the scent comes out cool and lifted. Green olive shows first, slightly saline. A moss note follows, closer to bark moss, attached to wood, not damp. A thin mineral line runs through it, cold, like spring water over stone. Underneath, roasted peanut holds steady.

The liquor is clear. In the mouth, it lands on the mid-tongue, then spreads across. The texture has weight, not thick, but carrying the body of coix seed water or euryale seed infusion, a soft, grain-like density that holds the liquor together. No roughness. A fine bitter-sweet edge forms at the sides, controlled, not rising.

A seaweed note moves through the middle, mixed with a spring-water clarity. The mineral line stays cool. The pine resin trace sits low in the leaf, not aromatic, but present in the structure, giving the liquor a dry, cold edge. As it moves back, sweetness begins to return from the throat, steady, without lift. Saliva gathers under the tongue, continuous, not pushed.

Across the infusions, the structure stays tight. Green olive remains in place. Bark moss holds its position. The roasted note softens but stays. The mineral-cool line continues through the liquor. The finish is clear, cool, and sustained.