2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi: Deep Energy Battery

 

Regular readers know that I like the 6 famous puerh producing area of Mang Zhi.  This 2020 Zheng SiLong Mang Zhi ($175.10 for 400g or $0.44/g) turned out to be a nice one…

Dry leaves have a brine, woody, and faint floral nuance.

The first infusion has a juicy woody onset with some subtle warming spice in the mix.  There is a base of really mild bitterness.  There is a subtle fruity bread returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is stone slippery.

The second infusion has a woody, slight caramel sweetness with a mild bitter underneath.  There is a lingering bread, faint fruity, and almost caramel finish.  The mouthfeeling is soft and stone like slippery in the mouth.

The third infusion has a caramel stone mineral sweetness that has a base of mild bitterness.  There is some forest like notes in there, woody, almost fruity returning bread-like sweetness.  The standout tastes are bitter and caramel.

The fourth infusion has a bitter woody kind of mineral caramel taste.  There is a long lying pungency that has a wild dirt mint kind of taste to it.  This infusion has an interest combo of tastes over a stone like slippery and almost sandy mouthfeeling.  The Qi of this one is slow to come and subtle in the mind- a clear type of alertness.

The fifth infusion has a fruity burst with a quick moving bitterness that gives the feeling of a grapefruit type taste.  There are some woody, floral, mineral nuances as well.  The overall feeling here is fruity yellow kiwi fruit and grapefruity tastes that are closely paired with a mild-moderate bitterness.  There is a cantaloupe melon type aftertaste that turns into mineral.  The Qi has a relaxing feeling to it.

The sixth has a bitter cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, creamy almost banana medicine like sweetness to it.  There is some faint woody mineral base tastes if you look hard enough but the feature here is a long tropical bitter sweetness that is really satisfying to me in this infusion.  I enjoy the moderate bitterness mixed with a nuanced tropical sweetness that is reminiscent of those new style IPAs.  The mouthfeeling has a soft slippery feeling to it and becomes a bit gripping in the mouth.  The throat opens at the top throat.  The teeth feel squeaky from the bitter here.  I like it!

The seventh starts with a delicious caramel floral melon fruity note.  The bitterness is quite mild here and the caramel note reaches past the initial tastes into the aftertaste.  The aftertaste has a honeydew melon and mainly caramel finish over a slippery stone feeling mouhtfeeling and open top throat.  The Qi is a nice powerful alerting but relaxing Qi.  I can feel my heart beat.

The eighth has a dirt mineral woody mineral has a nice caramel finish with a low lying pungent dirt mint which brings a melon fruity finish with notes of apricot.  There is a nice breadth of tastes in here.  The mouthfeeling is slippery and slight sandy with open top throat.  Qi is a bit invigorating, happy feeling.

The ninth infusion has a dirt woody and fruity onset.  There is a splash of fruity tastes over woody bitter backgrounds.  The mouthfeel is sandier and has a faint melon and dirt type taste with some woody dryness.  The Qi continues to alert the mind and slightly relax it.

The tenth has a fruity woody mineral type of taste with a predominating fruit taste.  The fruity taste is long on the breath over a sandy mouth coating.  Nice sunny Qi.  The Qi deeply and slowly builds up over the infusions to give me a nice deep energizing feeling.

The 11^th has a lessened bitter sweet onset with mineral woody mid taste.  There is a slight turbid mint like taste then a nice long mineral fruity taste.

The 12^th has a fruity bland chalky onset with a faint woody mineral taste and not too much returning sweetness- mainly just chalky woody.  Not much sweet or bitter here.

13^th I put it into 20 second steeping… and it pushes out more floral type almost fruity sweetness with woody and mineral underneath.  There is some faint pungency and bitter here that pushes out a bland flat type of sweet aftertaste.

14^th 30 sec has a bitter stone woody taste up front with not much sweetness left…

I put it into a mug and grandpa steep it for a while… It is equally floral as it is bitter.  Strongly floral actually…

Overall, this 2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi is all about the Qi.  It doesn’t seem as big as it later feels in the body minutes and even hours later.  A “sneak up on you” Qi for sure.  It really energized me a lot but felt almost relaxing.  In this way it is strong but not completely obvious or is more cumulative in nature.  The other thing about this Mang Zhi is it doesn’t have one obviously strong taste character but rather a lot of subtle tastes.  Obviously, it has a mild-moderate bitter taste but the bitterness and other tastes change quite a bit from infusion to infusion.  I enjoyed the deep strong backbone and complex and changing subtle tastes of this Mang Zhi.

Vs. 2016-2019 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi.  Check out the review of all these Mang Zhi in my 2019 review.  I would say this one is much better than the 2019 Mang Zhi and closer to the 2018/2017 in quality.  There is some deep energy in this puerh despite its weaker taste/ mouthfeeling. Puts it as my 2^rd favorite of the bunch.  Maybe between my favourite (2018) and previous second (2017)?

Alex’s (PuerhBlog) Tasting Notes

Peace