Certain puerh producing areas have a certain character,
feel, or qi to them. Lao Man E is widely
known for both its intense bitterness and its Qi sensations. In the West, I feel like Tea Urchin played a
big role in Lao Man E’s notoriety. This
tea was the very first offering of Lao Man E from Tea Urchin. The vendor description is as follows...
When returning
from my puerh buying hiatus, I found it quite interesting that there is no
review or mention of this tea on the internet.
Just one blog post by discipleoftheleaf back in the spring of 2012
(link). I guess this is understandable
due to its rarity and high price at the time of release($128.00? for a 357g cake). Naturally the full cakes sold out quite
quickly. However, the site showed that
there were nine 30g samples left for purchase at $16.50 for 30g ($0.55/g).
On Tea Urchin’s BlogI noticed that there is a picture of 12 of these pressed Spring Lao Man E cakes, but on the website it states that only 10 cakes will be sold. I imagine that the 11th cake was broken into
samples and the 12th is a prized possession of Eugene and Bell. The rarity of such a production immediately
lured me into a purchase of one of these with my very first order from Tea
Unchin in early May 2018.
After receiving this
sample, I really did sit on it for a little while, waiting for the perfect day
to sample such a special tea. When choosing a puerh to drink on a given day I
don’t do this haphazardly nor do I do it randomly. I try to choose a tea which best harmonizes
my energy. Today, I choose this bitter Lao
Man E…
In Traditional Chinese Medicine each flavor has an energy, a
season, a direction, ect. The flavor of
the Heart is bitter. The Season of the
Heart is Summer. The bitter taste is said
to Drain (Heat) in the Heart. The bitter
flavor in general is both Heat Clearing and Damp Draining. It is especially beneficial for draining
Damp-Heat.
It just so happens that lately I have been slightly pulled
out of balance by a case of too much Damp-Heat. The abnormally hot and humid weather as of late
has only made this imbalance more entrenched.
The weather today is hot and humid, above 30 Degrees C, the deep heavy
lying dark clouds are pleading for a release in this close humidity. I can’t think of a better time to heed the
warnings of the over-the-top bitterness of this Lao Man E and just dive right
on in…
Dry leaves smell of intense fruity with undertone of hay and
woods and even raison/ grape.
First infusion has an intensely bitter initial taste with a
nice buttery taste and a creamy almost fruit hay taste. The mouthfeel and throat feel are slightly
sticky and softly astringent. This
initial taste of butter and even slight raisin is strong and long lasting in
the mouth. The cha qi is intense very
intense and pushes one into an immediate sweat.
The body feel is cloudy and light- the head floats away.
The second infusion has that intense initial bitterness. The
aftertaste has a fruity faintly sweet, raison and butter rum taste. Despite the bitter the mouthfeel is full and
oily and not dry nor astringent. The
buttery rum and raison taste is stuck on the breath minutes later. The mouthfeel and throat feel are sticky and
gummy.
The third infusion shows maltier raison notes over an
increasingly bitter initial taste. The
taste is not a simple taste but dense in some respects. The bitterness doesn’t relent in the
profile. It slowly diffuses over the
span of minutes. The qi is big.
The fifth infusion is bitter bitter bitter and much the
same… maybe more bitter.
The sixth is a touch more cohesive in taste the malty tastes
come to getter nicely. Strong qi.
The seventh infusion is again much of the same tastes but
more together now. Malty, buttery, rum
and raisin, almost fruit, barely sweet- big qi.
The eighth infusion… finally the bitter is starting to back
off to a more tolerable level. There is
a bright berry fruit taste in there briefly in the initial taste. It has a malty raison buttery base
taste. The mouthfeel is sticky. There is a mild cooling aftertaste with
slight raison and faint berry. The ninth
is similar with a more raison and fruity notes emerging now. There is a nutty taste left on breathe.
The tenth infusion is still at a flash infusion. It presents as almost watermelon kind of
mango like buttery sweetness initially.
The base taste is much less malty raison and more cooling in aftertaste
now. This tea is transforming.
The eleventh infusion starts off with a nutty buttery bitter
taste then slowly transitions to raison.
There is dried fruit in the aftertaste as well as a distinct coolness
now. The tongue feels sticky and a
little numb. The throat is sticky and
open.
The twelfth infusion has an almost fresh watermelon velvety
buttery initial taste with a bitter that slowly builds then drops off. It has a nice coolness on the breath. The deeper, richer, maltier, nuttier deeper
flavor profile is gone leaving a different taste to this tea.
The thirteenth infusion starts with a creamy buttery taste which
turns into watermelon then into a cresting bitterness. There is a coolness and barely sweet taste in
the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is sticky
and nice. An almost chewed out gum taste
is left on the breath along with these tastes.
The fourteenth infusion starts with a fresh pop of fruit
then trails into a bitter which crests into a returning not that sweet cooling
feeling on the breath. The aftertaste is
like gum almost rubbery.
The fifteenth infusion is much the same but with a long
nutty aftertaste. There is an interplay
of nutty tastes that seem to emerge in some infusions and not in others.
The sixteenth and seventeenth are quite nutty also with the
higher fruit tastes disappearing and leaving a barely bitter and mainly nutty
profile. There is still a cool sweetness
with nutty tastes in the aftertaste. It
is important to note that the taste is still quite full at this point with no
signs of giving up. The rubbery gum
taste is gone and a pleasant nuttiness remains.
The eighteenth and nineteenth has a touch of watermelon
again the nineteenth has this slight fresher fruit touch with a thicker nuttier
taste. This is a good tasting tea. Still significant qi in there. Significant sticky mouth feeling.
This tea has great stamina the twentieth is steeped a bit
longer but the tastes are much the same just a bit more bitterness really, a
bit more depth to the tea. I long steep
the 21st just for fun and a very strong, bitter brew with a strong
cooling aftertaste is what happens.
Sweet high fruit, watermelon, lots of nuttiness. I think this is hands down my favorite Lao
Man E I have ever sampled. I really
enjoy the 10% wild leaf addition, it adds more interesting depth and pumps the qi up even higher. This tea seems
to last forever…
As the rain finally falls down… I am at peace…
Think I might clear those samples out …
Peace
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