2012 Lao Zhi Qing “Lincang Impression”: Experimental Sweetness

This is the other sample of Mr. Yu’s puerh that is still available at Tea Urchin, the other being this 2011 Che Ma Xuan Pasha which I reviewed last.  Eugene and Bell also had 2012 Che Ma Xuan Naka, 2010 Che Ma Xuan Nannou, and 2009 Che Ma Xuan Jingmai which are now all sold out long ago.  This 2012 Lao Zhi Qing Lincang Impression goes for $94.00 for 357g cake or $0.26/g... a decently cheap price…

Dry decently compressed leaves smell of layered darker honey, layered with dry wood bard, a licorice sweet and subtle almost fruitiness. The overall feel is sweetness with mild rich sweetness depth. 

The first infusion has a pear like onset of sweet tastes which transform into brown sugar tastes and longer into a woody almost medical taste.  There is a nice cooling pungency in the mouth with a returning sweetness of pear, apple, and icing surgar.  The taste is light sweet and decently complex with some deeper woody medicals barely detected after the initial sweetness.  The Sweet delicate aftertaste is long and the throat and tongue have a nice fuzzy feeling to them.

The second infusion starts with more of a brown sugar and pear onset the sweet taste is very clear but layered.  A very faint bitterness, brown sugar, icing sugar, honey, pear, slight dry woodiness, slight medical, coolness, long sweet aftertaste of candy, icing sugar, pear, brown sugar.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeeling are nice and fuzzy, fluffy an almost astringent.  The finish is long candy in the mouth.  The Qi is mildly relaxing here.

The third infusion has a thicker fruitier presentation with pear and peach and deeper honey and slight wood that turns to brown sugar, almost medical, there is that distinct cooling then to almost a syrupy sweetness.  The mouthfeeling and throatfeelig are really nice and full sticky the throat feeling is opening to a mid-deep level.  The Qi feel relaxing and I feel my shoulders lighten and come up by my ears.

The fourth comes on thick with a thick almost syrup fruity presentation that has a bit of mild bitterness now.  There is a medical taste and presentation that come as the cool pungency now collides with the dense fruity syrup and woodiness and faint medical qualities of this puerh.  There is a long cooling aftertaste of fruits, sugar, syrups and icing sugar.  The bitterness is mild and persists throughout.

The fifth infusion presents with a thick viscus fruity peach taste with layered wood and darker honey nuances.  There is a touch of bitterness and as the thick fruity presentation collides with the cool pungency a thick sweet medical notes is release then a long aftertaste of candy, syrup, sweetness.  This tea has that very thick syrupy, almost woody, slightly bitter and almost astringent kind of medicinal licorice Lincang semi-agedness to it.  It does this decently well.  Qi is nice and relaxing, I can kind of feel my face soften a bit. 

The sixth infusion is thick licorice sweet viscus malty oily sweetness with a subtle bitterness and a coolness which collides with this blob of dense syrupy woody medical sweetness.  There are orange peel, tangerine, peach, pear, brown syrgar, honey, woody slight medical taste.  The taste is fairly complex and dense the after taste is mainly sweet. It has a very typical thick Lincang sweetness and lots going on... almost chaotic.  The Qi has a bit of alerting and relaxing with a chest pressure feeling.

The seventh infusion starts with a fruity juicy sweetness with a rich caramel finish, brown surgars, some wood, fruity sweet taste throughout the profile.  Some bitterness appears then cooling then more sweetness.  Woody, crème brulee, slight tart, almost orange, melon, tastes.  The mouthfeeling and throat feeling have a mild taughtness to them a slight astringency.  The Qi is mainly in the head.

The eighth infusion starts with a bitter, astringent fruitiness with a sharper woody layer.  There is more of a sourness that comes out of the mix and a bit of astringent mouth puckering happens.  There is an almond nut note that is new.  This one is still punching at the stomach in the more astringent infusions and we are just at flash infusions here. 

The ninth is nice and syrupy thick onset with pear, orange peel, and dry wood presenting with a round bitterness underneath.  There is less of a coolness now and the returning sweetness is more mild melon.  The woodiness kind of flattens the profile.

The 10^th is fruity and thick with a distinct wood bark middle which interfaces with thick sweetnesses.  The sweetness is dense syrupy woods with a light fruity high notes of peach, melon and ends in a toffee or caramel sweetness. The mouthfeel is sticky and almost slippery astringent now. 

11^th has more caramel and high fruits the caramel taste is pronounced and really nice and tropical fruit nuance returns.  This is a nice infusion with the cup cooling a bit.  The caramel density and layered sweet top notes are really tasty.  This infusion is less bitter, astringent or woody and the array of top notes really are on display in a complex thick profusion of sweetnesses.

12^th has that nice thick dense sweetness to it.  A long caramel and then light fruity sweetness.  The layered sweet profile is really nice here.  There is a bit of spacy Qi in there as well.

The 13^th has a juicy viscus sweetness with a nice caramel finish.  There is a mild coolness then returning sweetness of light high noted tropical under more pronounced brown sugar and toffee.  The mouthfeel is kind of slippery here- a thin type of fullness.

14^th has a sweet syrupy sweetness with some licorice undernotes as well as some tame bitterness and woodiness.  The mild coolness pushes out a toffee sweet taste with some tropical taste on top.  Still feels very full and complex here.

The 15^th has a more bitter wood presentation with some florals in there.  There is a more suppressed thick caramel and tropical fruits which run free when the sweetness returns.  The mouthfeel is slight astringent puckering.  The Qi relaxing and a bit heady.

16^th has a dense fruity presentation of persimmon, melon, maple syrup, brown sugar, woods, slight sour, distinct florals now, peach, melon, slight cooling, even grape like tastes.  Very nice.

17^th thick sweet presentation of layered sweetnesses- tropical fruits, syrups, brown sugars, caramel very nice and densely packed sweetness with a slight edge of woods, bitterness, slight sour.  A cool pungent brings in the high less dense sweet tastes.  This is pretty yummy stuff.

18^th is more tangy tropical fruits, dense syrup, maple sugar, deep honeys, layered and densely sweet with a nice wood and slight bitter astringency underneath.  This one has nice stamina as well.  These later infusions are delicious.  There is some medicinal licorice notes in there as well. 

This is a bit of a chaotic Lincang Blend with an obvious sweet thick Lincang semi-aged character.  Its pretty tasty and strong in flavor and thick presentation.  You could use less than your normal amount of leaves with this stuff for sure.  Overall, the price seems fair for something like this. For some reason there is something too typical Lincang about this even in its complexity for me to purchase.  In some ways it is too sweet and chaotic for me, but very interesting.  There are not too many semi-aged blends of Lincang out there for the Western audience besides maybe white2tea Pin and maybe some Shuangjiang Mengku stuff.  Those that liked pin or Shuangjiang Mengku might want to try this one. 

I guess I would rather go higher and get something more vibrant or lower and something less thick but with more Qi.  For someone who is on a budget and wants to try a solid aged Lincang and who can spend a bit more for more complexity but without paying a fortune might want to try this and see if it fits their tastes.  It’s interesting, that is for sure.

Peace

The Best of the Cheapest: 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression & Scott’s Blending Skills

In the Western puerh scene white2tea’s Paul (Twodog) is known for his blends, certainly they can be quite delicious.  Then along came 2017... 2017 was a watermark year for Yunnan Sourcing puerh blends.  In the lest two years they have developed a good reputation for not only these two famous yet very inexpensive blends, but some of their other lab tested, pesticide-free, shut blends as well.  The 2017 Rooster King Shu, sold out quick- the quality really surprised me.  The other, this 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression ($27.00 for 357g cake or $0.08/g) has been very popular since its Autumn 2017 release (Edit: this tea was later found out to be released in Spring 2018).

It seemed the hype for this cake reached a climax at Black Friday this year with a few great articles featuring this full 357g sheng blend.  I don’t think I could add any more than this post on the topic really.  I wonder how many of these guys flew off the shelves on Black Friday?  I’ll bet that this was the single biggest seller this Black Friday.  I have been eyeing them for quite some time so ended up buying a handful of them to make it worth the shipping.

Many have championed this 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression as Scott of Yunnan Sourcing’s best sheng puerh blend to date.  I had pretty much sampled the whole Yunnan Sourcing Brand puerh selection from 2009-2011 and some of the 2012 but have never tried any of Scott’s sheng blends before, this will be a first for me...

Dry leaves are scented with a very vibrant tropical fruit odour over dry woody layers, peat, and moss.  The quality is immediately apparent in the vibrancy here.

First infusion starts with a soft fruity lemon and pineapple note, it transitions to a swelling creamy sweet taste.  There is metallic tastes as slight wood in the approach to the long creamy aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is sticky in the mouth.

The second is more sweet and full.  The initial taste is of stones and sweet vegetables, there is a lemon note in there as well.  The taste has a nice cool finish in a stimulating throat feeling.  There is a honeydew melon flavor lingering in the throat.  Lots of interesting notes playing out here.  Soft bitterness, slight sour, soft astringency in throat.  Creamy sweet with fruity sweet and even a vegetable sweetness.

The third infusion starts a touch spicy with sweet yam and creamy sweet notes followed by a metallic taste with makes the mouth sticky and nicely stimulated the throat.  The taste is long and creamy and almost cucumber in the aftertaste.  There is a lot going on here.  The cheeks are sticky as are the lips, and the mid throat opens to embrace the creamy and fresh aftertaste that also has notes of metal, yams, and even suggestions of wood.  The Qi makes my face flush and a heat sensation emerge. I feel it in the eyes which seem heavy.  I feel simultaneously sleepy as well as relaxed.

The fourth infusion has a juicy sweet taste to in now initially then a nice creamy sweeping aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is sticky and dense.

The fifth infusion has a nice burst of fruit but mainly creamy sweetness initially then it slowly rides into a long sweet creamy aftertaste in a full sticky mouhtfeeling.  The mouthfeel has a cotton like feel in the mouth and throat.  The creamy sweet taste is long with a touch of faint cooling.

The sixth infusion has a juicy fruity vibe, creamy sweet, softer sticky mouthfeel.  This tea is fading a bit here.  The mouthfeeling is nice and creamy fruity taste is fresh and vibrant in the mouth.

The seventh infusion has lots of those creamy sweet notes but the sweetness has a simple and very pure and fresh feeling to it.  You know that tropical sweetness, banana, pineapple maybe.  It’s yummy and the aftertastes take it along nicely.  Almost like an artificial banana candy taste, I like that.

The eighth I add 10 seconds to the flash infusion add it pushes out a bit more complexity in the flavor.  Green beans, banana, yam, moderate sticky/ dryness.  More of a vegetable fruit sweetness.

The ninth infusion I add 15 sec to flash and get a slightly chalky, dry wood, and creamy taste with vegetables underneath.  This infusion is a touch more bitter, it makes the sweet tight aftertaste pop but it is overshadowed by the woody/biter taste.  There is a butterscotch taste in the aftertaste.

The tenth infusion I add 20 seconds to flash infusion and get a thicker, richer taste of woods and beans with sweeter tastes retuning for a pop in the aftertaste under quilted bitter woods.  There is not too much complex taste in these leaves in the late infusions and the stamina of these leaves is not the greatest.  The sweet taste sure pops with that bitter astringency but then goes back to bitter quite quickly here.  The qi is pretty strong heavy, dopy, make me feel sleepy type of qi sensation.

The eleventh I add 25 seconds to the flash infusion and get a really dark chocolate delicious tasting thing with fruity notes in the distance and bittersweet coco up front.  This is yummy and right when I think about throwing in the towel with this one.  It is a Laoman E type of note even though you can be sure there is none of that in here.  The body qi of this blend is really harmonious and this puerh could easily be consumed now because it lacks a certain harshness in the body.  It actually makes the body feel warm and soothed, I like that.

I go for a 12^th at 30 more seconds than flash all of the sweet taste is pretty much gone here.  Nothing but bitter left.  So, I end the session.  I steep this tea overnight and get a rich broth of flavors the next morning.

The flavours in the first few infusions are the best of the cheapest- complex and interesting.  The Qi is also the strongest so far- is offers a big relaxing dopy effect, if that’s your thing.  But the stamina is weaker than the other cheap budget puerh I have sampled.  I felt I had to add more time to infusions much earlier and the tea ends much quicker than the other budget options.  To me, stamina is really important because I really steep my puerh to the very end.  A tea that finishes at 12 infusions vs 20 makes a big difference in value.

This 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression is the same actual price per gram as 2018 white2tea Snoozefest ($0.08/g) .  They are actually similar in many ways- the most obvious being that they are both multi area Autumnal puerh blends.  To compare the two I would say that mouthfeel is better with Snoozefest by a little, flavor snoozefest is more high notes but Impression has more depth of flavor and more interesting flavor by a bit.  The impression also has a deeper feeling tea liquor- there is a certain thickness in the tea liquor that is the biggest flaw in the 2018 Snoozefest.  The stamina of Snoozefest is better as the late infusions are a very pleasant and enjoyable sweetness where Impression is more bitter in the end and peters out faster. I like Snoozefest’s tighter compression as well.  The Impression is lab tested pesticide free and the Snoozefest doesn't feel as pure to me.  This 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression is the winner out of these similar priced things, for sure.

All in all this 2017 Impression is probably the best for how cheap it is, I don’t imagine finding anything cheaper and this enjoyable.  However, with this said, I would gladly pay double and get 3x more value i.e the 2018 white2tea Splendid.  There are probably no fresh puerh in this lower price range that taste as good.  Also, I still tend to go for 2018 Essence of Tea Bamboo Spring for drink now sheng puerh consumption over any of these budget options.

You’re paying almost twice as much for the 2017 Yunnan Sourcing Impression but the winner is still 2018 white2tea Splendid for the best of the cheapest sheng puerh.

Rats!  I just checked the website when I was adding the hyperlinks to this post and found out it has just sold out.  This exercise of finding the best of the cheapest feels a bit silly if we are just comparing Sold Out puerh, doesn't it?  Conveniently, the 2018 Yunnan Sourcing Impression was just released with a beautiful koi fish wrapper design.  I thought the 2017 wrapper was stunning!  I wonder if it is comparable in quality to this, now famous 2017 Impression?

But wait, I have a late entry in the quest for the Best of the Cheapest fresh young sheng puerh…

Dogleg Sean's (Dead Leaves Tea Club) Tasting Notes

Char's (Oblong Owl) Tasting Notes

John B's (Tea in the ancient world) Tasting Notes

Steepster Tasting Notes

Peace

2017 Yunnan Sourcing Blinded Puerh Tasting Event Alpha & Beta

This is classic, old-style, puerh blogger fun and games!  It was a bit of a puerh blogging tradition back in the day to sample the latest Yunnan Sourcing brand puerh blinded and see how poorly you could guess the tea producing area.  This sport was usually orchestrated by good ol’ Hobbes of the Half-Dipper (see here, here and here).  These events always kept me sampling teas from different areas at times in my life when I would have not otherwise sought that out.  So I am grateful that Hobbes and Scott had taken the time and consideration in organizing these events in the past.  On my return back to puerh tea I was back and forth with Scott of Yunnan Sourcing about reviving this tradition and he loved the idea.  So here we are (Thanks again Scott)…

As per tradition and as a homage to the old Half-Dipper/ Yunnan Sourcing Events of years past, the samples were labeled only with Greek letters (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta).  They were sent to many of the current puerh bloggers who agreed to have a little fun with this (as well as myself).

I can only surmise that my ability to guess such areas has likely decreased substantially since my long absence from the puerh scene.  Back in the day Yunnan Sourcing was producing tea from a lot of the classic/ popular areas mainly in Xishuangbanna and they were producing much less tea.  That first Yunnan Sourcing Tasting Event there were only 9 teas produced by them to guess from, in 2017 last I counted there was 34!  At that time, I would say my guesses were a touch below 50% - not bad at all!

I have no experience with any of Yunnan Sourcing brand puerh from 2017 or even the last number of years and a lot of the puerh we might be sampling will likely be from areas I have not even tried.  However I will put it all out there for you readers and fellow bloggers and guess my best. Hahaha..  Although I was supplied enough dry leaves for two sessions per sample in my small pot I have based the notes below on a single sampling.  I look forward to sampling them again after reading all the other tasting notes and seeing how my experience with them will change with this knowledge.

Now that I have adequately lowered expectations and nicely self-handicapped myself lets dive right into the Alpha sample… hahahaa….

 Alpha

The dry leaves smell of very spicy pungent and dominating mushroom fungus funky odours and more distant sour/sweet notes.  This immediately smells like an interesting puerh or it is a blend???

The first infusion emits a very spicy pungent sweet initial taste and slowly develops into a watery mushroom profile in a light mouthfeel.  There is a soft returning sweetness of sweet, barely cotton candy taste and slight grassiness.  The mouthfeel is very light and the throatfeel even lighter.

The second infusion starts with a more bitter-sweet pungent taste followed by bitterness and that base mushroom taste.  There is a more grittiness to the taste.  The aftertaste displays signs of vegetal tastes, hay, mushrooms, and pungent tastes.  There is not as much sweetness here.  The mouthfeel becomes a soft graininess in the mouth.  Minutes later there is a sweet-pungent turbid like taste in the throat.

The third infusion starts with a slightly creamy-flat-gritty bitter-sweetness.  There is a pronounced vegetal taste initially followed by hay and mushroom tastes.  A mild cotton candy like sweetness expands in the throat and evolves slowly into a turbid vegetal taste.

The fourth starts with a grainy, hay, vegetal like sweetness with just edges of cream.  It carries the base taste of mushrooms and hay into the aftertaste which has a nice opening cotton candy sweetness.  All this happens on a mild grainy mouthfeel and throatfeel which is grainy at the top throat and slightly opening at the mid throat.  The effect pushes some saliva into the mid throat- holding a turbid slight sweet vegetal mushroom taste there minutes later.  The qi of this tea is very alerting and invigorating on the mind but very mild on the body.

The fifth has a melon initial taste now that develops into a slight pungent mint sweetness.  The base taste is slight mushroom vegetal taste.  The aftertaste has a turbid vegetalness to it.

The sixth has a slight bitter-sweet taste over grains and hay.  The granary hay taste joins mushroom in the base taste.  The aftertaste becomes bitter as well as still slightly sweet.  There is a gumminess in the mouth afterwards.  The seventh tastes much the same as the sixth.  There is lots of layers of flavors to this tea.

The eighth infusion starts slightly bitter-sour vegetal taste and to sweet.  It moves to sweet bursts and then to mushroom hay tastes. In this infusion the sweet nicely pops transitioning from bitter to sweet then opening up to the base tastes.  The mouthfeel of this tea is mild and grainy but full.

The ninth starts to flatten out a bit in the initial taste but still retains much flavor throughout the profile.

The tenth starts to hollow out under flash steepings.  With melon watery tastes over faint sweetness mushroom, and hay.

The eleventh and twelvth is much the same starting with a watery sour sweet vegetal taste with mild hay and subtle returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is slightly sandy and mild.  The qi of this tea is nice and gives a partially euphoric type feeling in a whole lot of alertness.

I let this one overnight steep after leaving it sit for a few days in the pot and I am left with a sour almost briney taste sweet woods.

Out of all the samples in this even this one was the hardest for me to determine. When I was actually drinking it I was leaning to either Simao or possibly Yiwu in my thoughts.  I also tasted some Mengku notes in there as well.  I’m guessing its Simao maybe this  2017 Yunnan Souring Brand Da Qing Gu Shu.

Beta

Larger, loosely compressed leaf and bud dry leaves smell of nicely sweet rose florals.  The odours are juicy and light, slightly fruity.

The first infusion is light and watery and has hints of barely sweet icing sugar that transform into a slight barely noticeable vanilla and vacuous barely noted sweetness.

The second infusion starts off a touch sour and creamy.  It carries a barely creamy fluffy sweetness.  It has a slightly tart and puckery drying taste and mouth feeling.  The astringency opens the mid throat up to faint sweet/ creamy note in distant forest/wood notes.  Overall this tea starts off very light in taste with a more stimulating mouth and throat feel.

Third starts with a slightly creamy sweetness.  The sourness is less now but still noticeable.  The taste profile is short and relatively simple.  It ends with a mildly astringent throat feel, faint florals and sugary sweetness.  There is a slight dry wood taste starting to emerge.

The fourth opens with brisk, short initial tastes of sour sweetness.  A dry wood base taste is emerging and gets stronger with sour wood tastes in the aftertaste along with slight florals.  The mouthfeel is moderately drying and astringent.  Overall the taste profile is short and simple with this tea in a fairly simulating throat and mouthfeel.

The fifth has an almost grapefruit like sour sweetness as well as a creamy sweetness that makes its way past the dry wood taste to the aftertaste.  In the aftertaste the creamy sweetness expands in the slightly astringent throatfeel.  The qi of this tea is relaxing and makes the head feel stuffy and expansive, like a pressure or build up there.  It also makes the arms feel light and airy.

The sixth is smoother in taste with less sour and more muted creamy sweetness up front.  There are faint notes of vanilla and barely notes of florals in this clean tasting infusion.  The mouth and throat feel are nice as they are moderately astringent but never choking or restricting.  The qi sensation in the head starts to build into a very qi stoned, floating feeling.

My guess is Lincang puerh likely Mengku, it tastes almost in some ways like the famous Bingdao area and definitely old arbour.  My guess is this 2017 Yunnan Sourcing BrandHe Bian Zhai.

The seventh infusion is very nice and smooth with clear sweet creamy, not really floral tastes over very light woody notes.  This tea is very clean, very tight, simple in taste, complex in qi, nice in mouth/throat feeling.  The sweetness has an icing sugar taste.  There are no turbid or vegetal or forstesy tastes in this tea just a very pure tasting, short profile.  The qi is very very euphoric.

The eighth infusion becomes more creamy, cohesive, and tastes much more sweet.  This tea is just starting to shine with pure, sweet, surgary tastes.  The sweet taste lingers in the throat.

The ninth infusion presents with creamy sweetness again.  There are almost fruit notes in there now.  The sweetness softly swells in the mouth and lingers in the aftertaste.

The tenth infusion I start adding 10 seconds to the flash infusions and it results in a touch stronger but not that different taste profile.  If anything the mouthfeel becomes fuller with a touch longer infusion time here giving it a similar but more full taste.

The eleventh infusion I add 5 more seconds to the flash infusion (15 seconds more) and the result is a faint mango taste as well as a gummy wood taste dominates the soft profile of this tea.

The twelfth infusion I drop back down to 10 seconds to see I there is still any of the lighter tastes left.  I am greeted with light sweet mango fruit tastes with develop into a rubbery wood taste in the aftertaste.

The thirteenth infusion is much the same but has a pronounced sugary aftertaste amongst the rubbery wood tastes.

Fourteenth is considerably lighter at a 10 second steeping.  The fifteenth has an enjoyable fruit hue to it over the sugary sweetness and clean profile.  There is a slight rubbery after taste here.

This tea has some nice stamina to it as well.  This is mainly due to the lack of bitter or over astringent flavours which allows this one to be pushed to the end.

An overnight steeping pulls out more sweet, clear, clean suragy notes… nice.

I have avoided reading/ watching these other blogger reviews of this tasting even to remove bias from my tastings.  After posting I am going to read these:

James and Denny’s (TeaDB) Tasting Notes of Alpha and Beta

Marco’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes of all the teas in the event

Cwyn's (Death By Tea) Tasting Notes of all the teas in the event

Peace

Answers:

2017 Yunnan Sourcing "Mu Shu Cha" Ancient Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake  <--- font="" lpha="">

2017 Yunnan Sourcing "He Tao Di Village" Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake  <--- eta="" font="">

 

2017 Essence of Tea WuLiang Wild and Reasons You Might Enjoy Wild Tea More Than Puerh

David of Essence of Tea has challenged us, the humble drinkers of puerh, to question what it is we value in our teas .  For him in chronological order he values….

1.       Agrochemicals

2.       Body Feel

3.       Cleanliness

4.       Mouthfeel/ Throatfeel

5.       Qi

6.       Flavour & Aroma

 (Thanks to blog commenterDavid for directing me here and allowing me to reflect on this).

In my experience with wild teas (or yesheng) they tend to do better than puerh teas in the categories that David values most in tea.  So with this logic, it makes sense that any puerh drinker that also shares David’s values in teas may also prefer yesheng over puerh.  So it is then not surprising that this year Essence of Tea has preferred to focus on wild tea with just as many wild tea offerings as puerh in 2017.

This direction in going with more wild teas than puerh teas also signals to me that puerh of this quality and purity has just simply become too expensive (here and here) and David, with an eye to the future, is looking to offer an alternative to us mortals who can’t always afford to drink such things regularly but who are unwilling to give up quality and purity (and their souls).  This is also a likely reason for Essence of Tea also positioning themselves in the liu bao market as well.  They also happen to be two markets (wild tea and liu bao) that have not been an active focus of any western vendor.  So this direction to me is very very smart.

Wild teas tend to offer very nice qi experiences and are usually quite clean and are often easy to drink teas. David is a Qi guy, I am a Qi guy.  So why not give wild teas a chance?  I think if anyone does share these same values in tea, they are really going to love wild tea- they should try it.

Okay, let’s see how this 2017 Wuliang wild, the tea we will sample today, does with this criteria.  This sample was sent along with the purchase of the 2008 Qianjiazhai Wild Malaysian Stored.  I believe it is from a similar garden as the2016 Wuling Wild that was an Essence of Tea club exclusive last year.  Apparently, this 2017 version is noticeably lighterthan last years.  Okay… let’s sit down and meditate with this one…

The dry leaves smell of raisins and fruit.  It reminds me of raisin bran cereal.  There are some plumb notes in there as well.  There is both a freshness and a depth to the odour.

The first infusion is a very light and refreshing watery broth of subtle, distant fruit tastes and pure sugary sweetness which slowly grow on the breath.  There is a suggestion of chicory in the background.  The mouthfeel is light and soft and there is a soft opening of the throat.  Its “sweet wild” profile is immediately obvious by a near complete lack of bitterness here.

The second is more vibrant but still gentle and watery.  There is an initial burst of vibrant candy-like sweetness, almost watermelon, bumble berry tastes.  This infusion is of very sweet sugary tastes and an aftertaste of sweet melon and candy.  The breath has a slight turbid dirt rubbery fruit taste that is characteristic of most wild tea.

The third infusion is more of this very sweet, very clean almost candy-like sweetness initially.  This infusion the sweetness has a subtle buttery edge.  The mouthfeel is more established now and has a thin but very full coating feeling in the whole mouth.  The throat feel is not as expansive but rather somewhat opening.  The breath holds a barely fruity taste but doesn’t hold it for too long.  The qi is very very clean and brings a soft, crisp clarity.  It really makes me feel good and happy.  It’s a cheerful qi!

The fourth develops a more buttery edging to wildflower sweetness initially which the full mouthfeel holds nicely.  The aftertaste is pretty much an extension of this taste as it develops that characteristic rubbery, turbid taste.

The fifth infusion starts to water down a bit with less sweetness now as the buttery taste seems to be the dominant one now as it ducks quietly into the aftertaste.  The only fruit suggestions duck and dodge in the rubbery, turbid wild tea aftertaste.  Minutes later I can still feel it try to push through but only if I pay close attention.

The sixth starts to flatten out harboring that turbid, rubbery, almost fruity aftertaste in its initial taste and throughout with not much evolution in the mouth now.  The seventh is much the same.

Five to ten more seconds were added to each additional steeping after this. The eighth and ninth had a more distinct fruit taste lingering in the aftertaste as a result.  The initial taste has a melon, almost berry feel to it.  Definitely more fruity tastes have been pushed out with these longer steepings.

Tenth similar to above but now fruity tastes are waning.  There is a monotone taste that is quite light, fresh, slightly sweet, and yummy.  The eleventh steeping these tastes are even more muted and watery so a few minute long steepings are employed next.

The twelfth once again has pushed out a nice berry, typical WuLiang terror tasting brew.  It finishes with a rhubarb and berry aftertaste. The thirteenth is steeped even longer but the tastes have more of a typical turbid, rubbery, wild taste so these leaves are put into an overnight steeping…

This wild tea is all about its crispness, freshness, purity, mouthfeel and initial taste.  It is the softest wild tea that I have ever tried and I think it would be a great introduction to wild teas for those who appreciate the vibrancy of fresh sheng puerh. It lacks a deep and complex throat feel and long breath feeling for a yesheng. 

This wild tea is really not harsh on the body, nor is it bitter, so, it could really be consumed immediately.  Quite naturally, this is the way wild teas are traditionally consumed by the minorities of Yunnan.  It also really does contain the Wuliang taste profile that is found in Wuliang puerh.  Those that enjoy the taste profile of Wuliang and enjoy fresh young raw puerh will probably also enjoy this as a nice introduction to wild tea.

Peace

Hobbes’ (The Half-Dipper) Tasting Notes

Arek’s (Puerh Blog) Tasting Notes

Steepster’s Notes & Commentary

2006 Shuangjiang Mengku MangBo

I picked up a cake of this tea in my first order from Awazon with a bunch of others in hopes of finding a good, cheap, around 10 years agedpuerh from which to re-order.   I paid $25.80 for this 400g cake ($0.06/gram).  From the scant writings about this tea on the internet I have learned the following about this 2006 Mengku …

This was the first year that the Shuangjiang Mengku Tea Company offered this cake from the MangBo Mountain.  They offered cakes from Mangbo for a few years before discontinuing them, some of them were “Gong Ting” cakes where as others were these ones- two completely different puerh from the same producing region.  The manufacture’s information states that this is a Qingming (before rains) early spring cake from Mangbo Mountain located in the Mengku, Shuangjiang county of Lincang.  The leaves are apparently all from a single, high mountain tea grove of “ancient tea trees”.

This puerh producing area is no doubt famous for completely knocking off the Adidas logo.  In Western tea circles this is pretty much known as Adidas puerh… hahaha.  Despite having this tormented reputation, I could find very little written about these Mangbo cakes.  The only info I found in English about this cake was a glowing review by Dignitea on Steepster.  Sounds promising enough…

Unwrapping the cake my eyes and fingers tell me that this is a wrapper from long ago.  One of those super thin, see through, easily damaged, plain budget brownish wrappers that you don’t see much any more.  I appreciate this unpractical esthetic from a long time ago.  I unwrap the cake gently to have a look at it and the leaves are barely tinged redish with larger, chunky, aged hairy leaves covering the cake, I enjoy this experience.  I press my nose close to these leaves but very little odour is drawn out.  I’m obviously not as excited about this aspect but maybe they will come alive with all but a rinse?

Sit with me this early morning in the veranda of my old house and meditate as we drink this tea will you?

The first infusion delivers a light creamy sweet tasting wave.  It’s very smooth in the mouth with nice cooling aftertaste and sweet finish in the mouth.  The mouthfeel is nice with a full coating on the tongue.

The second infusion delivers much the same with a fruity sweetness starting to entrench itself.  There are some roasted nut edges that start to develop here.  The cool aftertaste is notable.

The third infusion starts out smooth and slightly sweet and builds on the tongue to finish with a slight roasted hazelnut taste with edges of apricot fruit.  The qi of this tea is nicely relaxing on the mind with a lightness in the arms and shoulders.

The fourth has a juicy viscus sweet and creamy, if not slightly watery, initial taste which turns into a roasted nut flavor.  It opens in the throat into layers of sweetness.  The aftertaste is a nice longer cool and sweet fruit taste.

The fifth infusion delivers a nice evolving profile of initial viscus caramel sweetness to a deeper roasted hazelnut to a cool finish with an almost apricot fruit aftertaste.  The tea has a nice viscus feel initially in the mouth which then turns a bit chalky and tight then nicely opens even the mid throat to finish.

The sixth is much the same with some berry fruit notes appearing in the initial taste now.

The seventh infusion develops more of a vibrant burst of fruit and also finishes with a long fruity taste in the mouth.  The base of this tea is a nutty roasted taste.  The mouthfeel continues to thicken and now slightly grips the throat.

The eighth the roasted nut taste blends more into the background where the fruit taste become more prominent.  There are tastes of apricot and tropical fruit such as mango in here.  The thicker tongue coating and throat stimulation knit these tastes together.

The ninth is much the same with woody notes now appearing more prominently then roasted nut notes in comprising the base taste.  The sweet notes start to slow down here.

In the tenth the roasted nut notes seem to be dominant with sweeter tastes supporting the main nutty flavor.  The hazelnut taste sneaks into the aftertaste in this infusion.

The eleventh is more woody and starting to get more bland again.  The next few infusion steep out with woody, nutty tastes with sweet edges with a solid coolness in the aftertaste.

This puerh is interesting in that you can really get very different results with different amount of leaf, steep time, steeping method.  Each method can really emphasize either the fruity taste or the nutty taste depends how you play with these parameters.  The fruit taste also can change and evolve differently as well.  This, along with a solid mouthfeel and long and stable returning coolness, makes this inexpensive puerh quite good.

I ended up clearing out the last 3 cakes of this one at Awazon in my next order so currently they are currently out of stock.  It ended up being the only cake out of the 7 tester bings in my first order from Awazon which I re-ordered (the two 2006 6FTM Banzhangs were last cakes, the two 2006 LMBF cakes sold out days after ordering, and the two GuanZiZai were too harsh for my liking).

I am quite happy to have 4 of these cakes and feel they are quite a good value for what I paid for them.  Currently King Tea Mall has this cake for $99.99 which I believe is closer to the actual value of this cake than the $25.80 I paid.

Peace

Same Tea Different Years 2013 & 2014 Shuangjiang Mengku “Sprit of Tea”

I purchased a sample of these two with my tong of 2008 WildArbour King cakes and a 2008 Nan Jian 912 cake.  An interesting thing to note is that when Yunnan Sourcing has a sale on a certain puerh, not only does the whole item go on sale but also the samples as well.  I usually don’t care to purchase samples unless I am sure that I would probably never buy the actual cake.  Basically, I sample for education purposes only.  If I think I might like the puerh, I usually just take the plunge and purchase the whole cake, brick, or tuo.  I think this is opposite than most of my readers… hahaha.

I decided to pick up a few samples of some common Shuangjiang Mengku cakes that didn’t exist when I was heavy into my puerh drinking.  One of these “newer” regular productions is the “Spirit of Tea” cake.

"Spirit of Tea" is the most premium regular production that was produced by Mengku Rongshi since 2009. It is entirely wild arbor tea! (link)

The 2013 cake is $69.00/ 500g cake ($0.14/gram).

Let us try the 2013 first…

Dry leaves smell of fresh distant fruit and hay.

First infusion starts with strong sour tones which turn to powdery ice sugar like tastes in the mouth.  The mouthfeel feels full, soft and powdery.  The aftertaste is reasonably round and sweet.

The second infusion starts sour again then transitions to more of a dry woody and vegetal taste.  The aftertaste is slight cooling and ice sugar sweetness.  The wood note is carried throughout the profile of this tea.  The mouthfeel remains fairly full and powdery.  Minutes later there are some floral notes that come out in the aftertaste and linger on the breath.

The third has a more pronounced floral sweetness up front.  The sweetness evolves into that creamy cherry fruit sweetness.  This infusion is full of different layers of sweet tastes floral sweetness, creamy cherry and dragon fruit sweetness and mild barely sugary sweetness on the aftertaste.  The qi of this tea is relaxing with a mild floating feeling in the head.

The fourth infusion has more of these sweet tastes blended into each other.  It is more cohesive than previous infusions.  A creamy cherry sweetness dominates the profile.  The mouthfeel is chalky enough to hold these tastes and let them evolve in the mouth.  On the breath is an interesting play of florals and fruits minutes later.

The fifth infusion shows some watery melon and white grape notes up front before turning into subtle florals and layered sweetness.

The sixth infusion has more creamy full icing surgery sweetness in the profile with an slight drier wood taste sneaking up.

The seventh infusion has less of a lighter profile but is still quite light.  A mild vegetal sourness shows up but as does some interesting tropical fruit and icing surgary tastes.  These tastes show on the breath even minutes later.

The next batch of infusions are pushed stronger to yield floral and creamy surgary taste that mainly appears in the aftertaste.  This tea has decent stamina for yielding light tastes.  The sugery floral taste is evident even minutes later.

This tea has nice stamina and can carry these flavours for many infusions.  If it is pushed too hard at the end overly sour notes come out.

2014 Mengku “Spirit of Tea”

This is a $72.00/ 500g cake ($0.14/gram).

Dry leaves smell of strong licorice root and distant sweet fruit with a slight hay edge.

The first infusion is a nice round buttery, creamy taste with a slight edge of sourness and a slight buttery floral in the aftertaste.  There is a citrus/ lime note that appears last on the breath as well as a mild surgary taste.

The second infusion has some creamy sweetness mixed with slight bitter and more sour notes.  It has a creamy longer aftertaste and slight cooling surgery taste on the breath.

The third infusion is much the same with the creamier sweeter notes more apparent and long.  The mouthfeel is slightly stimulating effect that is mainly found in the mouth.

The fourth infusion is much the same.  This 2014 still is more on the youthful side and carries a sour taste as a result.

The fifth and sixth infusions have even a more turbid bitterness and slight sourness over the slight creamy sugary simple tastes.  A mild floral taste is left on the breath with a very faint cooling.  Most of the profile is bitter/sour with very little play of interesting top notes.  The mouthfeel remains thin in the mouth.  The qi of this tea is mild, a slight lightness in the legs and arms.  It is still young enough that it gives off a slight rawness in the stomach.

The seventh has more of a turbid/ rubber taste to it.  It has a vegetal floral aroma on the breath that lingers.  There are some interesting tastes that attempt to push through minutes later.

The eighth the sour and bitter start to dissipate under still short infusion times and a dry slightly flat base taste delivers faint florals and barely surgery sweetness.

The ninth infusion becomes flat with a slight floral aftertaste.  This tea is infused another handful of times and still manages to hold on to some of that slight floral aftertaste.

The difference between the 2013 and 2014 is notable.

The 2013 Sprit of Tea has not only much fuller mouthfeel but it also has a more vibrant taste to it.  They both have good stamina and at least something worthwhile can be had for many infusions a good indicator of wild arbour.

Peace