2005 Shuangjiang Mengku Mu Shu Cha (15 years later)

I remember actually trying this one fresh off the press in 2006 or 2007.  At that time it was very bitter astringent yet quite fruity, perfume, floral and vegetal- very Qi laden.  It was a pretty good Mu Shu Cha puerh and likely the first Mu Shu Cha I have ever tried and I considered purchasing some back then but never did.  It was obvious to me even back then that this is good tea but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it because of the unusual profile that I had never really encountered before.  I have said before here on ths blog that Mu Shu Cha is really a sort of different thing than puerh that shouldbe evaluated on its own merits, sort of like yesheng.  I don’t really believe these tastes too much like puerh and actually more resemble Yesheng.  I ended up trying some other Mu Shu Cha productions (including other Shuangjiang Mengku) throughout the years but this one, I think, is a very good benchmark Mu Shu Cha. 

I have kind of been following this tea for quite some time, watching it slowly increase in price over the years.  I debated purchase again a few years ago I remember seeing this one at King Tea Mall for a few hundred dollars.  I’m not sure of the storage but I think it might have been Guangdong stored?  It was on my long list of tea to purchase again but I now couldn’t justify the price especially when there were other Shuangjiang Mengku that I liked better that were cheaper.  I had also just purchased loads of Shuangjiang Mengku and figured I had enough.  I was surprised to see this 100% Houde Huston stored version available for $425.00 for 500g cake ($0.85/g) pop up this year.  In 2017 it was selling at Houde for $70.00 for 500g cake but this was before the 2018 price correction .

Guang wrote a blog post on this one hyping it as a first generation cake which is a collector’s item and also it being Bing Dao.  Often early Shuangjiang Mengku cakes are hyped as “Bingdao” or “containing Bingdao” however this is only speculative at best.  This marketing is often applied to all early Shuangjiang Mengku from this era inappropriately.  I agree that you are paying for the first generation collector premium on this one but having tried other Shuangjiang Mu Shu Cha this one is also considered the one of the best of them although I only tired the 2005 and 2006 I believe.

This sample was really the motivation to pay the heavy shipping and try some of these Houde samples after all these years.  I’m really excited to try this one that I sort of still remember from 15 years ago…

Dry leaves smell of light sweet candy.

First infusion has a watery onset with a creamy sweet expanding finish.  There is a candy like full expanding taste over a creamy cottony mouthfeeling on the tongue.  Subtle bitter vegetal that can barely be accessed here and has a bit of coco taste.

The second infusion has a strong mouth astringency first which is balanced nicely with creamy sweet candy like strawberry tastes and woody under nuances.  The throat kind of feels vacuous but deep and a nice strawberry aftertaste with faint pungency and a woody coco mild bitter finish.  The Qi has a strong mind-slowing and ultra focusing feeling.  I start to hear things far away my senses and honed.

The third infusion has an astringent and sweet candy like onset.  The astringency amplifies the sweet candy strawberry tastes and the taste expands over the tight pucker tongue.  The finish is first bitter wood coco then an almost cool pungency and strawberry candy sweetness.  The Qi is warming in the body and focusing.  The throat feels vacuous but deep.  The tongue transforms into a cottony feeling where tastes still seem to linger.

The fourth infusion has a stronger bitter pucker with some sour taste building and less sweetness here.  There is a creamy sweet strawberry taste under the more intense full bitter astringency.  This infusion has a dominating coco woody bitter astringency.  The Qi is a powerful warming, smooth in the body, and very focusing on the mind Qi.  Very very nice Mu Shu Cha typical Qi.

The fifth infusion has a creamy sweet with bitter coco onset over a slightly puckering mouthfeeling.  There is an almost unrecognizable faint coolness in the throat with candy strawberry finish.  The cooled down cup is bitter sweet coco.  Nice strong warming harmonious in the body and focusing strength in the mind Qi.  The Qi is typically good Mu Shu Cha.

The sixth infusion has a bitter sweet coco astringency to it.  There is a rolling creamy coco sweetness with a sweet fruitiness that attempts to push through the bitter profile.  The mouthfeeling is still a puckering but turns more into a flat coat on the tongue rather than the cottony fullness on the early infusions.  Big Qi.

The seventh has cooled down in the cup and gives off a bitter sweet caramel coco taste with still some flat pucker on the tongue and a faint open deep throat.  There is a pungent almost minty taste that is common with Mu Shu Cha in there as well.

The eighth has more of that minty vegetal taste its almost a flat bland taste that is common with Mu Shu Cha.  This profile is mixed into the milder bitter-astringent coco and less sweet creamy.  The mouthfeeling becomes stickier now.  Big Qi Mu Shu Cha continues.

9^th is more watery with coco bitter sweet and bland vegetal with a puckering but never dry tongue coating.  There is a minty vegetal almost floral taste.  There is also fruity taste.  The mouthfeeling is more puckering almost dry.  It even is felt in the upper throat.  The sensation leaves less aftertaste but what is there is an interesting cinnamon taste.

The 10^th is more watery now and less bitter but more vegetal bland now.  The Mu Shu Cha bland vegetal taste allows for some simple faint strawberry to bleed through.  The mouthfeeling is less strong and the bitterness is almost gone with more of a astringent pucker on the lips.  The Qi is losing strength too.

The 11^th infusion is watery bland vegetal.  With not much sweetness left, a faint bitter-astringency.  Not much flavours.

I long steep ( 10 min) out the 12^th infusion… it kicks up the power once more… bitter coco with astringent vegetal woody almost fruity sweet syrup.  Strong warming and Qi.  Gripping tongue and faint cooling open throat.

I go at it again at a 40 minute steeping… it is a stronger almost syrupy vegetal sweet slight bitter astringency.  It feels like a slight pucker in the mouth.  The Qi has dropped off and is mainly relaxing now.

I put the leaves into a mug and grandpa it out…

Fruity, slight tart, faint coco dirt, almost floral, not super strong but satisfying.

Overall, this is a nice early, example of Mu Shu Cha that has optimal storage for such a thing.  I’m not sure if I would spend that kind of money on this kind of thing now- remember that 4 years ago this exact cake was selling for 70$!  Really you are paying the premium for both good storage and due to it being a collector puerh.  Not for the relative experience.  To me this tastes less like Bing Dao and has much more in common with other Mu Shu Cha.  With that being said, if I blind purchased this one I would likely be satisfied enough with it.  For me it was most interesting to see how this one bitter astringent and vegetal sweet young puerh has transformed into something that still really retains its original essence but is now ready to drink and enjoy despite its stronger qualities.  I really enjoyed this.

Steepster Tasting Notes

Shah8’s Tasting Notes (also see here)

Peace

 

2001 Mengku “Yuan Yieh Xian” of Mengsa Thick Paper: Floral Dirt!

I’m excited to try this sample which I purchased from Hou DeFine Teas ($350 for 357g cake or $0.98/g) because I have never tried a Hongkong traditionally stored cake from Mengku before despite my broad experience with Mengku Shuangjiang Factory puerh.  I’m not even positive if I’ve even sampled Traditional Hong Kong Stroage on a Yiwu before either… this will be interesting…

Dry leaves smell like dirt.

First infusion has a rich dirt taste with mineral stone over a slippery woody dirt very mild soft menthol finish.  It feels slightly watery and slippery in the mouth.  A smooth dirt woody.

The second infusion has a strong creamy citrus sweet lemon zest almost bitterness mixed with heavy composting dirt and wood.  The sweet lemon woody taste lasted even 10 minutes later on the breath.  It was over a slippery mouthfeeling with a chalky mid tongue feeling and an onset of hypnotic Qi.

The third infusion has an almost coco with orange fruity onset over a rich slightly creamy woody thick dirt taste.  The mouthfeel is oily and smooth with a mild menthol throat opening.  There is a dense bodyfeeling globous of warmth below the diaphragm and a building hypnotic comforting sensation in the mind.

The fourth infusion has a rich woody resin with creamy almost floral suggestions with a creamy menthol finish with distinct woody dirt.  Warming Daiphramatic Qi with some hypnotic feeling in the mind.  Very soothing and tasty.

The fifth infusion has a creamy sweet woody almost floral tangerine like aftertaste after mild woody dirt menthol base.  There is a thick oily bread and creamy woody dirt sweetness.  There is a certain oily floral edge to this puerh which makes it really enjoyable.

The sixth and seventh infusions have a creamy dirt sweet onset with a floral breath edge.  The menthol is less now and was really faint to begin with but a more floral woody dirt kind of finish.  The warm Qi under the abdomen is notable and beautiful.  Hypnotic and soothing Qi sensation.

The eighth infusion has a woody dirt mineral taste with a deep floral pungency in an oily and finishing chalky on the mouth.  The throat and mouthfeeling is really nice full and chalky feeling.  The Qi is strong and soothing warming the body.

The ninth infusion has a resin woody dirt creamy sweetness.  There is a very subtle mild astringency if you look hard enough.  The full chalky mouthfeeling is really nice so is the faint edges of floral that are almost lost in the woody dirt creamy sweet taste.

The 10^th has a creamy woody taste with the floral breath taste gone now.  There is a bit of mineral and storage taste with a very faint menthol on the inbreath.  Warming feel good Qi here.  Very soothing on this cold winter day.

The 11^th is much the same woody dirt almost menthol wood over a chalky full mouthfeeling and subtle chalky throatfeeling.  Not much floral or tangerine or creamy sweetness now.  Great soothing warming Qi!

The 12^th infusion is pushed into longer infusions but not much other than dirt woody faint menthol over a subtle chalky mouthfeeling with not much throatfeeling left.

This is the first Traditional HK stored cake with a distinct floral taste to it which is interesting to me.  Overall, I’m not sure if it’s worth the price or not.  I’m always of the thought that Yiwu and Mengku areas are much better dry stored.  This one is no exception but nicely enjoyable either way!

Peace

 

2003 Shuangjiang Mengku Da Xue Shan Wild Puerh 250g Brick

KL Wong of Teapals makes a bold claim about this 2003 Shuangjiang Mengku (Rongshi) Da Xue Shan Wild ($39.15 for 250g or $0.16/g).  He states, “If not better, it’s as good as 2006 Mengku Rongshi Qiao Mu Wang.”  This is the line that hooked me on this tea because personally I feel that the 2006 Mengku Arbour King brick is one of the best productions that Shuangjiang Mengku has ever produced.  This is coming from someone who has also tried a lot of Shuangjiang Mengku.

Ok, let’s go back a bit.  Since, returning for my onslaught of puerh buying, this has been my only purchase that I have been tipped off by a kind email (thanks friend).  He no doubt flagged this wild tea down for me because it has a lot of qualities that I look for in a tea.

First, it’s from one of my favorite factories that is known for cheap and good quality puerh.  Shuangjiang (Rongshi) Mengku is also well known for pressing wild tea and have been doing it for a long time before any of the other factories.  Secondly, I like wild tea though drink it infrequently. The Shuangjiang Mengku Da Xue Shan wilds are some of the most famous factory production wild/ yesheng out there.  This is a very early version of these.  Thirdly, I highly value very tight/ iron compression which these bricks are.  Fourth, as stated above I’m a big fan of the 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Qiou Mu Wang.

Seems, like this completely Malaysian stored brick has everything I like… so I ended up ordering the last 4 bricks but the big question is…

Is it REALLY better than 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Arbour King???

Dry super compressed leaves smell of the dry leaves is of vibrant fruits in wood and slight dirt.

Slightly watery, fruity, distinct date and plum skin onset with cooling light finish on the breath.  The mouthfeel is a bit vacuous in this first infusion with a touch of barely noticeable dryness in the throat.

The second infusion starts off more earth peat mixed with date and overly ripe cherry.  It has a watery and almost tart quality reminiscent of wild tea profile.  There is a slight bready finish with moderate cooling on the breath.  The mouthfeel is sticky especially the lips and this throat mildly opens to the obvious cool menthol.

The third infusion starts with pops of dense and thick syrupy fruity vibrancy, cherry and plum initially then is swept away by a moderate cooling returning yeasty bread sweetness.  There are mild layers of wood underneath.  This infusion excites me.  The qi is starting to kick in the upper neck, down the spine effect is felt as if the head is wobbling on a swivel.

The fourth has a woodier and cherry and rum like taste, a bit like rum and raisin flavor and dried cherries.  The woody taste is not as prolific as the fruity.  There is a wave of cooling and beadlike sweetness and even dark chocolate covered dried cherry aftertaste.  The profile is pretty long and reasonably complex.  It tastes like a drier storage, I wouldn’t have pegged it as typical Malaysian.  There are lots of crispness, woodiness, and fruitiness in here more typical of drier storage.  This is likely due to the iron like compression on the brick.

The fifth infusion starts off with a yeasty bread like sweet and sour dominating with sweet fruits layered under that and wood notes even deeper.  There is a mineral taste in this one as well before cooling and converting into a long fruity and bread like sweet taste on the breath.  The mouthfeel is slight tart and astringent enough to give the layers of wild flavors traction.  The qi is powerful in the mind, spacy.  Do I still even have a neck attached to my head, I wonder?  The tart mouthfeel forces the saliva to retreat deeper into the throat.

The sixth infusion starts off strong, dense, thick fruit, wood, cooling,  The taste is real full and strong here. The Qi is real strong in the head too.  I almost feel like I can’t think straight.  I can feel qi pooling in my eyes and spine.  This is a powerful wild tea.

The seventh infusion starts with a pungent fruity bready taste, it’s almost bitter here and more woody with a more pronounced cooling throat action.  The sweeter and fruiter tastes are less.  The eighth infusion is identical with a touch more bready sweetness.

The ninth infusion has more of a sour fruit onset and strong pungent coolness to finish.  There are long bready sweetness and fruits in the breath here.  The Qi is very powerful almost dizzying.

The tenth infusion is a nice balance of dry wood and date/cherry it has a tartness underneath.  The pungent coolness reaches deep into the throat from the astringency here.  I can feel the qi beating in the chest now.  The Qi of this tea is very nice.  I clear out some pieces that have clogged my teapot filter a bit and things change…

The eleventh infusion has an almost floral sweet fruit approach, slight tart, much less bitterness and astringency and a smoothness to it.  It has a talc mineral nuance to it as well.  A subtle mineral soil taste, like licking a rock.  Still distinct coolness and long sweet bready and fruit aftertaste.

The twelfth infusion has that same floral and berry taste now.  It is somewhat refreshing in these infusions, cooling and replenishing feeling but warm in the body and face.  The aftertaste is pungent cool and long fruity breads.  This tea feels very clean and pure in the body.  My mind melts under the Qi’s presence.

Thirteenth infusion is of mahogany wood with layered fruits underneath.  Deep rich dried cherry, cooling pungent.  My energy explodes in my mind and I break into a sweet.

The fourteenth is beautiful cherry florals with a Saskatoon berry taste.  It tastes like Saskatoon berry pie with the pastry bready edges now.  A sweet fruity mineral aftertaste is enjoyable.

The fifteenth infusion is more berries and wood and mineral.  A pungent fruity long aftertaste.  The sixteenth is still at flash and delivers.  The sixteenth is fruity and long cooling pungent it is simple now but the qi is still strong and the sweet fruit note is predominant.  The seventeenth is sour, fruit, woody base really tastes like younger wild tea here.

The leaves are still very tightly rolled at this point as evidence in the picture.  This is the kind of tea that easily gets steeped for 2 days in my house.  The overnight steepings are surprisingly woody, a touch bitter, and a bit brackish.

Conclusion: I have had a chance to sit down for a few good sessions with this one.  I have found a lot of variance in session to session with this wild.  This is due mainly to the amount of dry leaves used.  You actually get the best result when the session is leafed a bit on the lighter side.  If you use too much leaf it can get bitter and astringent and turn out more woody and less fruity.

The best sessions, like my first session in the above notes, are close to the brilliance of the 2006 Shuangjiang Mengku Arbour King but really the teas are so different it’s hard to compare.  Other than the same factory and compression, the material and harvest year gives off completely different taste, feel, and energy.  I really like this 2003 wild, a wonderful tea for the modest price tag…

 With that being said, I still don’t think it compares to the brilliance of the 2006 Arbour King.

Peace

 

2013 Shuangjiang Mengku “Yi Pin Quan” 1 KG & Good Mengku vs Bad Mengku

I purchased this sample along with this tong of 2008 ShuangjiangMenku Arbour King  from Yunnan Sourcing about a year and a half ago.  I took a few other Shuangjiang Mengku samples along for the ride on the order as well.  I ended up purchasing a quite a bit of Shuangjiang Mengku while it was quite cheap at this time.  Without a desire to purchase more, I didn’t try this one which now goes for $210.00 for 1KG cake ($0.21/g)… a big one!

Dry leaves smell of mushrooms, honey, distant floral, slight pungent odour, sweet overall.

First infusion has a soft peachy and honey approach with soft wood underneath there is a soft cooling returning sweetness with pungency.  The mouthfeel is soft but tingling on the lips.

The second infusion has a nice soft honey approach with suggestions of peach and even butter scotch underneath.  There is a nice long pungency and a soft sticky tingling mouthfeel feeling especially on the lips.  The menthol aftertaste reaches deeper into the throat along with sweet butterscotch and suggestions of peach.  The mouthfeel is quite nice.  I can start to feel the qi softly in the head and warming on the cheeks.  The odour from the leaves are an interesting grainy aroma.

The third infusion has a licorice and wood taste along with butterscotch sweetness.  The initial taste has mild astringency and a touch of bitterness.  There is a leathery note in the aftertaste that overtakes the long cooling sensation.  I was getting real excited about this puerh until I hit this steeping.

The fourth infusion is more of this woody/ leathery taste which dominates now.  There are hints of peach in the returning aftertaste along with menthol and butterscotch.  The bitterness and astringency is enough to beat at the digestion a sign that this one still needs a bit of aging left to be enjoyed.  The Qi of this tea is of that very strong/ almost jittery factory style.  It is nicely warming in the body and makes the head feel wobbly and light but the mind is like a chattering monkey.

The fifth is this licorice/ leathery barely sweet, somewhat medicinal with edges of sweet malt, grain, licorice, almost floral, butterscotch.  The bitter astringency and licorice/ leather dominate.  These notes are a sign of much less exciting Mengku material.  That common leathery and licorice profile is what I consider less desirable Menkgu.  The high notes of butterscotch and almost floral sweetness and vibrant expanding tastes are more desirable Mengku qualities.  This tea seems to have more of the former.

The sixth infusion is much the same tastes.  The mouthfeel is now an almost dry and slightly grainy texture along with tingling lips sensation.  It is moving more toward dry and slightly sandy with each resulting infusion.

The seventh infusion is a bitter more creamy and sweet throughout less bitter woods and leathers more long butterscotch and menthol in the returning sweetness.

The eighth is kind of a balance of the leather/ woody astringency and the creamier sweeter butterscotch slightly sour with a sandy mouthfeeling astringent returning tastes.

The ninth again a balance of sweetness, leathery/wood even grainy wheat, with a butterscotch flavoring and longer menthol.  These last infusions are balanced and taste nice.

The tenth and eleventh infusion is a mild leather, wood, grains, and sweet buttery flavor and has a cool finish with a butterscotch finish.  The Qi is a big caffeinated factory qi experience.

The twelfth infusion turned out pretty sweet with a dominating soft buttery sweetness.

The thirteenth infusion was a bit more leathery and woody but sweet tastes still are the most dominant here.  The fourteenth takes a more bitter/ astringent turn but is still mildly buttery and sweet. The mouthfeel in these late infusions is a bit buttery.

15^th is a more grainy sweetness the 16^th is much the same under longer infusions with still a long cooling taste and slightly sweet bitterness.  This tea lasts much longer than I would expect.  It probably could keep going…

This tea has good stamina and is complex enough and has that strong robust Qi I often enjoy.  You can taste some Bang Dong or similar quality material in there but has too much of that common/ lower quality/ unexciting Mengku tastes especially in mid-profile.  This is not a bad tea for the price but neither is it a good tea.  Personally, I really dislike that common licorice/ leather low note in puerh teas.  There is definitely better Shuangjiang Mengku other there for a low enough price.

A few days later I decided to finish the remainder of the sample using less leaf and got a pretty soild drinking tea over the course of a day.  The sweetness is really pronounced and the qi is factory strong.  I enjoy this tea on some level, it has enough in it to be enjoyed for the price.  I just think I can find better…

Peace

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

Advice On Buying Fresh Sheng Puerh, 2008 Mengku Shuangjiang Wild Arbour King And Catching Up With The Ones That Got Away

Have you ever sampled a puerh, liked it, but by the time you go to buy it’s sold out?  Of course you have, its happened to all of us.  You never forget it do you?  But have any of you had a chance to buy that same cake 9 years later?  This is a story about making wrongs right again…

I have a long history with this cake.  In fact, I wrote a review post on it when it first came out 9 years ago here (link).  I was given a generous sample by a man who taught me almost everything I knew about tea at that time, my teamaster if you wish to call him that.  I call him Mr. Kim.  This was one of the wholesale cakes that Mr.Kim brought into his shop for sale in 2008.

I spent many hours in my week sitting cross-legged drinking tea at Mr. Kim’s table talking, discussing, and learning about tea.  In Korea this means Korean tea, Japanese matcha, and (Chinese) sheng puerh tea almost exclusively.  Mr. Kim taught me a lot.  One of the most important things he taught me about puerh was his advice on purchasing fresh sheng puerh (which I haven’t done for years and years now).  He said that the puerh should have a full feeling in the mouth and especially the throat, it should feel good in the body now and make you feel good, it should be something that you could enjoy now not something that was so strong and bitter that you would have to age to consume, and it should be to your liking regardless of what others think about the tea.  If it is a quality sheng its taste will also develop and change throughout the gongfu session and through many many steepings.

I feel like this is really good advice and has done my puerh collection well over all these years.  This advice might seem obvious to some now but back in the mid-2000s it was contrary to the mainstream belief that a puerh should be bitter and strong to age well.  I know there are lots of people out there sitting on tones of bitter, harsh puerh that is hard on their body, that they never really enjoyed and that isn’t aging so well in dry storage- so I am grateful for this early advice.

When I first tried Mr. Kim’s sample back in 2008 it didn’t quite meet all the purchasing criteria for me.  Check out my first impressions here.  For me it had too much typical puerh taste too early in the session.  Even so, I would often drink this fresh sheng puerh with Mr. Kim at his tea table.  After a while this tea started to grow on me, I liked the way it made me feel mainly.  So when it was time for me to depart from Korea in December of 2008, I made a stop at Mr. Kim’s shop to buy a tong.  Unfortunately, he had sold out.

After my first purchase of six 1 KG bricks of the 2006 Wild Arbour King I was still in no mood to purchase this 2008 version of the same namesake.  After all, I much preferred the 2006 anyways and I didn’t think I really needed any more Licang puerh.

Yunnan Sourcing sure makes it difficult to just make one off purchases.  About a month after my big purchase and after acquiring a large sum of loyalty credit it just happened to be that Scott is offering a 12% off the Big Four Puerh Factories promotion (Mengku Shuang Jiang is one of the four).  Still feeling the sting of a dwindling puerh stash, I throw in a tong of these bulky 500g cakes, ($62.00/500g or  0.12/gram before both discounts now it is currentlypriced at $76.00 per cake or $0.15/gram), a single cake from one of the other four factories and a few new Mengku factory samples of some offerings they never had back in the day just for fun.

The old Yunnan Sourcing website says these cakes were dry Guangdong stored. 

So there we go.

Please gather around the tea table as I had done with Mr. Kim and let’s enjoy this tea…

The dry leaves smell of slight cherry fruit in semi aged mushroomy puerh odours.

The first infusion has a clean, sugary-sweet, slightly metallic taste with a nicely semi-aged base taste and nice slow to evolve, cooling sweet, crisp aftertaste.  This tea is immediately fresh but yet grounded with aged incense-like tastes.  There is a floral taste in the throat appearing minutes later.

The second infusion has more lightly deep medicinal tastes, mushrooms, and vanilla tastes initially then finishes with a slightly floral, slightly metallic aftertaste.  There is a vegetal even, sour if overbrewed, taste in the middle of the profile as well which strings things together.  A cool metallic aftertaste remains.

The third infusion presents with more mushroom and slight medicinal tastes up front then slowly transforms into very faint metallic and floral in the throat along with a faint long cooling sensation.  This tea has more of a slight throat opening feeling than an actual mouthfeel.  The sensation in the mouth is thin but full and slightly sticky.  In the throat feels opening even into the mid-throat.  The qi of this tea is slight and relaxing, it floats the head and relaxes the body.

The fourth infusion has some lighter florals up front mixed in with soft semi-aged medicinal tastes.  These light tastes stretch past soft vegetal notes and into a muted metallic and floral aftertaste.  There is a nice packaging of solid simple and somewhat unique tastes in this tea.

In the fifth and sixth infusions this tea starts to thin out holding a nice bouquet of florals in semi-aged medicinal tastes.  The aftertaste is a metallic, slightly cooling taste.  The mouthfeel becomes a very fine grit here and saliva pools in the mid-throat.  The qi is really noticeable in the chest and heart and gives this area both an opening feeling and a stimulating sensation- the heart gallops gently.

The seventh is much the same as is the eighth but the taste becomes much more generic aged puerh at this point.  It has a nice incense-like taste to it.

It brews out like this even in overnight steepings.

Peace