I really gradually warmed up to and ended up really enjoying
the unusual complexity of this 2004 NanQiao Bulang King previously offered by
TeasWeLike. It was enough for me to
reorder if that says anything?
I believe it was probably the best cheapest cake they have offered so
far. But the storage gives off some
pretty unique kind of tastes for sure.
So, naturally, I was quite excited to try this 2006 Green Peacock LaoMan’E for $148.00 for 357 g cake which promises to be a similar but different experience…
Dry leaves smell of faint woody dry leaf subtle pond common
puerh factory smell.
The first infusion has a pond, leaf, and almost melon
edge. It is surprisingly not smoky nor
is it bitter. It just has a subtle melon
sweet edge over a very clean pond marshland taste. There is a bit of deeper throat cooling and a
soft sandy faint mouthcoating. The
aftertaste is a creamy sweet melon fallen autumn leaf. It leaves a nice mouthwatering over the
tongue. Nice cozy warming Qi in the body
that flushes the face.
The second infusion has a subtle sweet melon taste with a
fallen leaf base taste the aftertaste has a maple sugar and demerara sugar
finish. There is a faint bitterness here
throughout but enough to make my Stomach rumble. The profile is really clean and clear with a
dry fallen leaf base and a complicated changing sweetness that goes from a
fresher melon initial tastes to more of a toasted brown sugar finish. There is a nice deep coolness and finish, and
oily texture over a soft sticky faint sandy tongue. Lots of saliva gobs in the mouth. Nice warming Qi in the body.
The third infusion has a fallen leaf sweet melon initial
taste with a moderate bitterness and brown sugar subtle sweet finish. The bitterness is moderate with a
bitter-astringency that is not so much tasted as felt in the Stomach and
body. The cooled down cup is refreshing
melon very fresh taste nuances. Nice
mouthwatering and cool throat.
The fourth infusion has a fallen leaf with very subtle
splash of fresh melon taste. There is a
deep cool throat and a retuning melon aftertaste. The original freshness of this Lao Man E is
definitely still here but so is obvious dry aging notes of dry leaf. The Qi is warming and comforting in the body
and mind. Nice flat subtle mouthfeeling
with returning saliva watering effect.
The fifth infusion is left to cool and is still a bitter
fallen leaf with more sweet complexity in the aftertaste along with a stable
long coolness in the aftertaste. There
is a melon taste under fallen leaf even some bread notes. Nice flat mild dry tongue with an oily back
of mouth feeling.
The sixth is a mild bitterness over a bready sweet melon and
fallen leaf base taste. The flavours are
really clear and pure. Nice warming
energy. The cooling throat.
The seventh is bitterer with a more woody fallen leaf, bread
with flat tongue coating and returning bread sweetness. Not as much saliva, or cooling. Nice warming
focusing cozy Qi.
The 8th has a nice woody incense onset that
returns as a nice sweet long honeydew melon taste. There is a very nice long sweet melon fresh
taste in here, the bitterness and astringency is pretty much gone.
The 9th has a nice cool sweet melon with the base
leaf taste becoming much less, bitter is very faint, and there is a nice rich
bread sweetness as well, some woody, almost incense tastes. Nice focusing and
warming Qi. Some faint bodyfeelngs in
the diaphragm. Nice to drink, feels
good.
The 10th has a nice factory woodiness or “resin”
to it that is very familiar to me, a bit of incense, a flat tongue, not much
saliva producing or much aftertaste. A
bit of woody cool melon and incense.
Nice warming and comforting Qi.
11th is a smooth woody incense resin like taste
not much else nice clear storage note with a factory resin finish a very mild
bitterness and nice flat almost dry tongue and some throat cooling.
12th I mug steep out the rest…
Overall, the storage is real nice preserving that classic melon
or honeydew melon rind Lao Man E taste with still a bit of bitter edge that
makes Lao Man E famous. Its at the right
maturation to enjoy a bit of both worlds here.
This one has a bit more astringency to it than I’m used to from Lao Man
E also makes it on the edge of being enjoyed now with some sessions being a bit
harsh on the Stomach and others perfectly fine.
The nice warm Qi in there make it still enjoyable especially as the astringency
seems to recede after the 5th infusion. A beautiful compromise in keeping the integrity
of Lao Man E. This cake feels more like
a gushu type tea than a factory type tea and some of my modern gushu produced
puerh shares some of these nuances minus the astringency. Really it’s kind of between
both worlds which makes it a bit interesting to me.
I ended up drinking this cake a few times last summer
particularly for its Qi which can be a strong focused Euphoric happy feeling. This is the Qi of good quality LaoMan Er, in
my experience and this puerh has it. I
enjoyed it a lot for summer driving and travel.
I’m unsure if I will go for another cake?
Vs.
Vs. 2006 Lao Man Er factory big round cake… this is a pretty
interesting comparison as the age and factory and even material will be similar
but the processing and storage location and production quality differ. The Big Round cake is a really loosely compressed
cake of gushu-ish material that has a bit of charred or roughly processed
material in there and mine is dry Kunming stored. It has both a crude and harsher feel and
taste as well as a more elegant milder presentation. Not as obviously LaoManE in Qi and bitterness
as well. Much more mutted and
muffled. Doesn’t make me feel great
overall but somehow there are glimpses of enjoyment especially the melon
fruitiness. TeasWeLike peacock is a much
preferred option.
Macro’s (Late Steeps) Tasting Notes
Peace
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