2016 Zheng Si Long Man Lin & Slow & Spacy

This sample of 2016 Zheng Si Long Man Lin ($150.85 for 400gcake or $0.38/g) came free with the purchase of a few cakes of the 2015 ZhengSi Long Wa Long.  I don’t think I’ve ever tried any puerh from the Man Lin area before.  I’ve tried Man Zhuang area before but nothing this specific.  I wonder what this sub-region has in store…

The dry leaves have a dense perfume odour to them.  Floral, sweet candy and woody forest odours emit from the very tight pressing of leaf.  I throw whole chunks into the warm pot and the odour that they emit is beautiful floral, wild rainforest sweetness with a distinct odour of melon.

The first infusion delivers watery sweet fruit tastes of melon grasses and rainforest and mineral stone with an icing sugar sweetness.

The second infusion has a light watery icing sugar sweetness.  There are mild nuances of moss and rainforest, stone minerals, melon.  The tastes are refreshing and subdued as the chunks have not loosened in the pot yet.

The third infusion starts off pure icing sugar note very clean and crisp and cool in the mouth.  The mouthfeel and throatfeeling is faint and there is a wispy icing sugar that lingers on the breath.

The fourth infusion opens up more and has a creamy icing sugar initial taste that pop in a very clear watery broth.  There are distant nuances of cherry and wood but really this is a nice pure creamy, icing sugar sweet note.  The mouthfeel and throatfeel are mild and let these soft pure clear sweet tastes skirt overtop.  There is something very thirst quenching about this puerh on this overly humid day.

The fifth infusion has quick onset of fruity almost nutty flavors which glide into the aftertaste and end in an icing sugar taste.  The sweetness is that crisp, clear, clean type with almost no mid- or deep- base to it.  With just a mild astringency to the mouthfeel it leaves these cake-like sweet flavours unadulterated and long in the profile.  The Qi sensation is a bit mild but you can feel the cool youth of the leaves in my empty digestive system.  Subtly relaxing, matching the vibe of the taste.  I can feel a gentle pumping of my Heart.

The sixth infusion starts with a quick and distinct icing sugar sweetness there is a pop of fruit cherry but mainly just this ethereal long unadulterated thin icing sugar sweetness.  Simple but very yummy.  There is a subtle faint pungent coolness that is quite airy halfway through the profile.

The seventh infusion starts with icing sugar sweetness then a pop of cherry fruit which fades as a very faint almost unnoticeable pungent coolness skirts around the breath.  A long wispy icing sugar sweetness stretches into the distance.  The mouth and throat feel is quite faint with a mild astringency.

I step away from the tea table for an hour before returning.  The eighth infusion is more mellow icing sugar with barely creamy and barely fruit taste throughout.  The ninth infusion is much the same.

The tenth infusion shows mild fruity signs initially with icing sugar. There is that easy to overlook faint pungent then icing sugar sweetness.

The eleventh infusion I start steeping 10 seconds past flash and get a mild fruity sweet and underlying icing sugar sweet onset.  This is a very light tea with a bright ethereal nuance to it.  The qi is mild relaxing feeling to it with a mild chest Qi sensation.  This is an easy drinking puerh for sure with a touch of oomph.

The twelfth I add 20 seconds to the flash.  It gives me a touch more astringency up front with a dry woodiness and mineral that comes with it.  The mild quick fruit cherry and longer underlying icing sugar taste is still there.  The aftertaste fades into the breath without much fuss.  I space out under the mild Qi and even forget where I am… although mild there is something sneaky and spacy about this puerh’s energy.

The 13^th I continue the trend of adding more time and do about 25sec steep.  The initial taste is a touch syrupy and malty wood with creamy sweetness and icing sugar sweetness underneath as well as a vegetal taste.  The wet leaves smell of roasted nuts.  I can feel the Qi racing the Heart and I feel a nice slightly spacy relaxation.

The 14^th I continue to push.  I get a touch of astringency and even slight bitter if I push hard enough there are some mild fruits, mineral, dry woods, and lingering faint icing sugar.

The 15^th is becoming a dense apricot sweetness with a woody note underneath.  A more standard sheng puerh taste with some astringency and bitter and a creamy buttery finish with icing sugar breath.  Nice expansive head feeling.

The 16^th is put to a good 40 seconds beyond flash and pushes out thick apricot and woody tastes which disappear in the aftertaste.  The tastes here are decidedly sheng but thick and simple enough to enjoy with a faint touch of bitter and astringency in these longer infusions.  As the very compressed leaves release over the course of the session the flavor becomes more dense and fruity.

I push on for a few more infusions because the relaxation effect is still happening.  The flavors of dense apricot sweetness and wood doesn’t let up.  There is a thickness in the broth initially in the fruity taste that is pleasing enough and edges of bitter and astringency but not that much.  This initial taste kind of just glides away.  I am past 20 infusions now and still get some dense flavor out of this one.

Overall, this is a real simple and light sweet puerh that offers an unadulterated sweet sugary tastes.  It has almost no bitter or mid or low notes and just a touch of astringency.  It’s just this puerh light energy.  It has a nice relaxing spacy Qi with a touch of Chest and Heart body feeling that it creates.  The Qi was spacy enough for me to completely for get to get a photo of the spent leaves which I never do. 

Due to the fact that there is little to no bitterness or astringency and the fact that this has very tight compression, you can really push this puerh hard and push out some thicker flavor even late into the session.  The stamina and slow progression of this puerh is nice and keeps your attention to the end.  The way this one slowly unravels is something satisfying for this price.  There are going to be some people who really like this light puerh energy for drinking immediately… I like its stamina and slow release and options for diverse brewing.  Its Qi keeps the mind from getting to serious... this one is kinda interesting...

Peace