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.
15th is a more grainy sweetness the 16th
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
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