2008 Fangmingyuan Bama, Again!

A surprise from Tiago of Tea Encounter. Dry leaves smell of sweet misty rainforests, distant sweet berries, sweet woody odours.  Sweet very pungent taste very cooling finish. Pungent camphorus wood and a creamy long sweetness. The storage seems drier than other Fangmingyuan puerh from Tea Encounter . Sticky lips and tongue feeling.  Faint bubble gum breath.  Relaxing qi even spacy and floating body type of qi.  Nice apricot and wood in late infusions.  At $88.89 for 400g cake or$0.22/g , I think I should buy this one again …

Peace

2008 Fangmingyuan Nannou, Revisiting an Old Friend

I have some history with this cake.

Creamy, slight floral, slight aged tangerine peel, sticky in mouth, slight mahogany wood, slight watery, distant florals, menthol, sticky and slightly drying, relaxing head qi, becomes woody/menthol, very relaxing, almost sleepy even, inconspicuously alerting.  Not very thick but fruity, woody and menthol with nice qi.

I end up ordering one of these 357g cakes at $99.67 or$ 0.28/g as a comparison to the dry stored one I have.

Peace

2010 Fangmingyuan 0842 “5 Year Anniversary” and Thoughts on Old School Blends

This tea was likely made to commemorate the 5 year anniversary of Fangmingyuan with their own take on the classic 7542.  From the name I wonder if there is aged mao cha in the blend?   This 500g Qing bing goes for $55.22 or $0.11 /g- crazy cheap!

Dry leaves smell of a vibrant pungency and menthol like sugary sweetness.

The first infusion has a muddled initial taste then gives off some hay and mild woods before building into a nice clean menthol sweetness.  It peaks then slowly and strongly transitions to a long creamy sweet aftertaste.

The second infusion again starts kind of muddled and slightly turbid as it slowly transitions to menthol then to a long creamy sweet Nannou like deliciousness.  This tea a very light watery viscosity and is mainly felt on the tongue as a sticky resistance there.

The third infusion starts with a more slightly bitter woody peony odours taste then transitions to a sweet returning menthol with hay.  The long cottony creamy sweetness lingers in the aftertaste.

The fourth infusion starts with a mucky initial taste with a woodiness in there it transitions to a hay menthol taste then to a long creamy sweetness with a decent astringency in the finish now.  The tea viscosity is on the lighter side with some tongue stimulation and a middle deep opening throatiness.

The fifth infusion has an almost fruity suggestion in the initial taste along with mild bitter then taste moves predictably to menthol and woods.  The aftertaste is now slightly smoky before it gives way to creamy sweetness later on.  The qi is a bit of floating distension behind the temples.  A touch euphoric and relaxing stuff too.

The sixth infusion starts off with the aftertaste now and feels much denser in the mouth.  Things coalesce here and taste of a mix of wood, hay, creamy sweetness, barely floral and fruit, and faint smoke.  The Qi is building in the head and the euphoric feeling is backed up in line.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth have a smoky slightly bitter backbone woody nuance and creamy sweet finish.  Mild menthol lingers in the throat.  The mouthfeel becomes slightly gripping on the tongue and the throatfeeling is now more superficial.

The tenth has a distinct fruity melon note initially then goes to hay and wood before a menthol like returning sweetness and mild creamy sweetness.

In the eleventh infusion I notice more grain qualities and woodiness with still a lot of the above attributes.  Little bit of fruit in there as well.

This charming puerh reminds me a bit of the simpler, blended, early-mid 2000 puerh that have enough interesting aspects to them but in an uncomplicated taste and mouthfeel and in an older processing style.  I have a few cakes of puerh like this and really enjoy them for what they are.  Overall, they are blended enough that the tea offers some different qualities in there but the processing of the maocha isn’t always as clean.  When drinking these types of cakes you can kind of tell that the leaves have a certain level of quality to them.  This “5 Year Anniversary” offers a stronger almost Nannou back bone and nicer qi than most in this category.  Very drinkable for that price point.  I can't imagine anything from a Western vendor that is this cheap and still enjoyable, and trust me, I spent a year looking. 

 I like the Qing bing 500g size too!

Peace

 

 

2013 Fangmingyuan Nannou: Cheap and Good

This tea goes for $60.61 for 357g cake or $0.17/g.  It’s rare to find a decent Nannou for this these days…

Dry leaves have notes of pear and pomegranate, florals underneath.

The first infusion has a sour and peach like taste with woody notes in the aftertaste and layer into a slightly creamy sweet, slightly floral and slightly woody aftertaste in mild menthol afterpinnings.  The mouthfeel is sticky and the liquor is reasonably thick.

The second infusion has woody, florals and peach notes in a thick mouthfeeling and broth.  The mouthfeel wonderfully paints the mouth and tongue in this consistency. There is a more complex interplay of layered flavours in the mouth here.

The third infusion has a roasted sweet nut onset with woody notes underneath.  The woody taste is throughout with florals and slight creamy sweet in the aftertaste over woody notes.  Qi knows the shortcut into the brain for sure, sharpening it under its influence.  Relaxing the mind as things slow.  It has a warming feeling in the body and even the face starts to sweat.

The fourth infusion has a sour peach, fuzzy peaches, taste to it.  The floral note in this infusion is more perfume and obvious.  It has a more pronounced menthol taste as well.  Nice and thick in the mouth.

The fifth infusion starts off with a strong sour fruit taste of grapefruit and citruses.  The floral sweetness caps of the end in the aftertaste.  This infusion is fruitier.

The sixth and seventh infusion have a dense woody bitterness with fruity and floral tastes that comes out more in the aftertaste.  The dry woody profile is found throughout.  A medicinal cooling returning sweetness drapes over woody notes.

The eighth I had horrendously over stepped it. So that’s that!

Overall a nice and thick plantation Nannou-ish thing.  It shares some characteristics of Nannou that I have encountered before but are not the typical Nannou profile such as citrus notes as well as some astringency.  I don’t think I would have guessed it to be Nannou origin but it does display some of the typical floral, creamy sweetness and thick cottony mouthfeel which I enjoy from a good Nannou.  I would have guessed more Northern, I think.

Out of the three Fangmingyuan for sale at Tea Encounter, I like this one the best for the price.  This tea has a pretty intensely simulating mouthfeel for something so inexpensive.  $0.17/g you can’t get anything close to something as stimulating and interesting in the mouth for that.  This is a tea for the mouthfeel for sure, but Qi, bodyfeeling, and flavor are solid enough for the price.  For that reason, I picked up a few cakes of this.  It currently looks like it’s sold out but more should be on its way from China.  Keep watch if this sounds like something you would be interested in.

Peace

Fangmingyuan: Hobbes Old Finds/ My Old Friends

Many years ago now our beloved puerh drinking chap, Hobbes of the famed The Half-Dipper blog, introduced us to a small outfit he visited while in Beijing, Fangmingyuan.  Actually, it was an old recommendation of Marshall'N.  Hobbes not only gave Fang Ming Yuan puerh the “thumbs up” but conveniently point us right to the Taobao vendor.  For those who read the Half-Dipper back then, Hobbes’ specialty was signaling out the good and cheap puerh.  Fangmingyuan, I believe fits this profile (see here, here, here, and here).

Back in 2011 I bought a bunch of this stuff through that direct contact.  The 2009 Fangmingyuan JingMai- I drank completely though that pleasant cake!  The 2008 Fangmingyuan Bama, is one of my favorite cakes.  My tea drinking pall in Victoria contacted me years back and told me that this one sells for many hundreds of dollars more than we modestly paid for it.  I have very little of this one left and have tried unsuccessfully to find something similar and cheap.

Then there is this 2008 Fangmingyuan Nannou which I just reviewed about a year ago although I have drank through a few of these cakes.  In that post I lamented, that the webstore was closed and I couldn’t re-order such acquired tastes… or could I?

Last week a packaged arrived at my door step from no other than my favorite sample pushing chap, Tiago (aka Curigane) of Tea Encounter.  The day before, I saw them go up on his site.   So before I even opened it, I knew what my destiny held in store for me…

Please join me in reviewing these Fangmingyuan in the next week here on this very blog.

Peace

2008 Fangmingyuan Nannou

This is the last bing remaining of what used to be three cakes from my personal stash.  My tea drinking friend in Victoria convinced me to go in on a Taobao order on this one back in 2011 after reading a review on The Half-Dipper.  We also picked up a cake of the 2008Fangmingyuan Jingmai which I drank completely up last year.  I am slowing savoring about 1/3 of a cake of the 2008 Fangmingyuan Bama which is a very good chunky robust cake which we also picked up in the same order.  The Jingmai was my least favorite of the bunch but to be fair I don’t prefer the Jingmai profile too much.  Last time I heard from my old Victorian puerh drinking bud he was bugging me to post about this wonderful 2008 Fangmingyuan Nannou that we acquired with the others.

Taking a break from the business of life, I sneak up into the loft at work where I sit in meditation, drinking this tea… please join…

I peel back the dry leaves which give off odours of very sweet cloying sweetness of raisons and dried fruit.

First, steeping emits deliciously creamy florals in a deep fruity syrupy date-like odour.  Taste of soft fruits on a full tongue and opening throatfeel has a nice cool finish buried underneath.  Has a deeper taste of wood underneath but very light and creamy overall.  Very nice cooling aftertaste that coats and opens the throat.  The throat feel coupled with the profound cooling returning sweetness immediately tells me this tea is very good.

Strong creamy sweet cherry odour is emitted from the wet leaves.  The second is much richer and creamier.  This tea excels at leaving these flavours painted on the tongue and throat.  Breaths bring a cool menthol taste mixed with these flavours.  There is a soft creamy wood underneath.  The second infusion is quite dynamic and significantly relaxes the mind.  This tea is very sedating and is great for meditation.

The third is more rich, more woody, but overall quite fruity and creamy.  More mature tastes reveal themselves as the leaves open up.  Overall this is good Naunou representation in mouth and feel.  The qi is very relaxing stronger as the session progresses. The thickness of this tea is quite apparent.

The 4^th is creamy & woody the throat and mouth feel are great and hold to these flavors with suggestions of fruit and cool menthol still ringing in the throat.  This tea really coats the teeth, mouth, pallet, and deep throat- its quite full.  The deeper notes up front add depth.

The 5^th & 6^th the higher notes drop off a bit but the thick feeling of the tea remains strong.  The cooling returning sweetness remains.  The mind starts to feel mild tunnel vision and the heart races with qi softly jaunting around the body.

The 7^th & 8^th show more cherry woody sweetness with thick mouth feeling.  A mild hyperactivity pings through my body and mind now.  The taste, fragrance, and feel of this tea lasts for many more steepings.  When it gets too weak I put it in an overnight steeping to draw out what’s left.  The long steeping rewards me with very fruity tastes with very little bitterness.

Unfortunately this cakes is no longer for sale.  It is my favorite cake from Nannou and I would reorder if I could.  I also couldn’t find any information on the current price of this cake.  It was stored in China (Beijing, I think) for the first 3 years, then two years in Victoria, then 4 years in a Ziplock in the dry prairies.  There is no signs of improper storage or off tastes.

Thanks for joining me in meditation…

Peace

2009 Fangmingyuan Jingmai

This cake is 1 of 3 that one piggy backed on a friends Taobao Order (the other reviewed being the 2008 Fangmingyuan Bama). Let's see how this cake stands up on this chilly spring day...

The dry leaves are small-medium in size with odours of muted, earthy, and musty earth-forest.

The first infusion delivers a flat, watery, sweet-spicy almost cinnamon taste up front which develops into a spicy, light creamy floral finish. Overall the taste is very faint. The mouthfeel is a touch sticky and thin in the mouth. There is a long creamy aftertaste with some sweet strawberry finish in there as well.

The second infusion sees barely sweet muted flavours over a slightly flat-bland forest-earth taste. This taste develops into faint, sweet, almost berry-like soft notes with a slight bland taste. The mouthfeel is full and slightly coarse in the mouth.

The thrid infusions offers muted-bland tastes upfront with just some creamy notes and faint notes of berry-sweetness found in the aftertaste. The mouthfeel is full, even gripping in the middle-low throat, and still a touch coarse in the mouth. The qi is such that it brings heat to the head and relaxes the mind to the point that things feel slow and look clear.

The fourth infusion has a distinct muted-bland-bitter taste upfront but this time a bit of sweet fruit tries to be noticed underneath the initial taste profile. The aftertaste is slightly creamy and sweet-fruity under the bland-bitter notes. The tongue feels gritty and the teeth sticky- this tea grips somewhat deeply in the throat.

In the fifth infusion the bitter-bland taste has retreated somewhat in the initial taste with more faint mellow creamy notes lingering with a flash of cinnamon. Certain simple fruit notes pop up in the aftertaste over a blandish base taste.

The sixth and seventh infusions see the bitter-bland taste has dropped off leaving some simple creamy notes somewhat suppressed as well. A softer, vague creaminess lingers in the aftertaste with a very subtle spice and nutty fruitiness. The mouthfeel is deep and grainy.

The eighth infusion develops a soft, grainy-bitter initial taste with butter-creamy finish. A simple taste with a simple course mouthfeel is left in the mouth.

The following infusions see very simple tastes of watery berry sweetness with a bitter-bland base taste.

Link to Hobbes (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Peace

2008 Fangmingyuan Bama

One has a great tea drinking bud that drinks exclusively puerh tea. We meet up for tea every month or so to drink a bunch of puerh. He is a fan of ol'Hobbes of the Half-Dipper (aren't we all) and was ordering some cakes from Taobao that Hobbes had recently reviewed (months ago now). This Bama was one of those cakes from that Taobao order that we ended up splitting.

The dry leaves are of a muted, sour, and slightly pungent wood odour. These leaves are rinsed with boiling water and the first infusion commences...

The first infusion is sour-pungent, deep-gritty-dirty tastes with a sweetness of over ripe fruit. Pumpkin notes can be detected in the watery bouquet. Late sour plum notes can be detected minutes later on the breath. A feeling of warm qi swirling and pooling in the stomach and lower abdomen is noticed.

The second infusion is more deep gritty notes now with a malty-bitter-sweet initial taste. There is a sour, distinctly apricot and plum, fruit taste. These flavours are strong and heavy. The mouth is coated in a thin slightly drying coat with plum and dirty apricot aftertastes hanging on. Qi is strong and moving.

The third infusion is a thick, malty, sweet taste which arrives first before a sour, bitter taste follows not far behind. There is a heavy floral note in there as well that can be compared to patchouli. Qi now induces a sweat.

The fourth infusion comes on with a watery sweetness in a sour-bitter initial taste. It has a goopy-thick, gritty edge with a thick flower-plum finish. The mouthfeel swells in the throat expending slightly and covers the mouth in a thin dry coat.

The fifth infusion has a watery-sweet start but is markedly smoother than previous infusions with creamy, plum finish over slightly sour-bitter base notes.

The sixth, seventh, and eighth infusions have noticeably more fruit edges among the watery, bitter-sweet base. Apricot, mango, and melon come to mind- this fruity taste is now quite long and stretches throughout the taste profile. Qi causes bursts of heat the whole body turns quite warm now. The gritty and dirty elements of this tea are now so subtle in the background providing nice contrast to the distinct fruit tastes.

The tenth infusion is pushed a bit longer and yields more tangy-apricot but slightly more bitter as well. It seems less vibrant now.

This tea is put through longer infusions now, even overnight infusions, revealing a full, distinct, juicy taste with a substantial mouthfeel pinning lingering floral tastes down. The aftertaste is a continuation of the floral and fruit tastes.

Link to Hobbes (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Peace