2014 Puerh.uk Mengsa: Power Value

 I didn’t check the site for this one before I sampled it and am not sure if they even had it up on the site yet as this was a complimentary sample.  This 2014 Puerh.uk Mengsa Ancient Trees goes for approx. $188 for a 357g cake or $0.52/g.

Dry leaves still have a lot of fresh sweet smell but also woody odours.

First infusion is smooth creamy woody tastes has a mellow fruity initial taste in a watery slightly oily texture.  Nice long melon finish.  Very clean gushu feel.  Mellow relaxing and mind slowing off the bat.  Refreshing feeling.

The second infusion has a creamy sweet oily onset with a watery mouthfeeling with a woody almost grains base taste.  There is some fuzzy headed feeling and creamy sweet woody melon nuance. There is a nice mid-deeper throat opening. Relaxing waves of energy.  Subtle caramel note in there as well. 

Third infusion has foresty vegetal caramel creamy onset in a slightly gripping mouthfeeling.  Strong relaxing pull in the body.   Almost astringent has a coco finish on the breath with caramel.  Strong Qi with some Heart beats and warmth and heavy feeling- both relaxing and refreshing.  Strong Qi energized ones body as the Heart really beats strongly.

The fourth infusion has a strong woody spicy creamy woody fruity condensed onset with strong Chest beats that invigorate!  The texture is a bit oily and a caramel sweetness returns and stretches out on the breath.  I’m having a really strong Qi experience here with strong Heart beats bursts of energy and energetic hyper feeling euphoria.

5^th infusion has a coco woody ashy slight astringent bitter onset with woody base and a melon creamy sweetness that returns in the aftertaste.  The texture is a bit oily and has a fine chalky feel in the mouth and deeper throat opening.  Huge Qi pounding in the Chest.  This Qi kind of reminds me of the 2007 Yang Qing Hao Qizhong.  Energetic high.  

6^th infusion has a woody oily quick coco mild bitter astringency with a sweet brownsugar edge. The returning sweetness is of coco and slight melon.  There is this pop of melon candy flavor that is really taste here.  Mouthfeeling starts to become a bit gripping chalky.  Strong Chesty beats and invigorating mind melt.

7^th is left to cool and gives a woody ashy bitter coco woody taste in an oily broth.  The woody and coco and ashy tastes are becoming more prominent with the sweet taste coming from the returning sweetness and is a sort of creamy brown sugar.  Strong chest beats and energy you can feel it in your temples.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a woody a bit bitter and with a woody bittersweetness to it with the sweet taste now mainly in the aftertaste.  Flatter blander taste and mouthfeeling.  Still strong alerting stimulating Qi.  Some mild intense head stuffiness.

9^th has a melon fruity sweet onset with developing coco taste very clear infusion here with nice trailing off coco finish.  Mild bittersweetness throughtout.  Strong Chest thumper.

10^th has a melon sweet oily onset that slowly turns into a bittersweet coco.  These last few infusions the wood taste is gone and so is the astringency and they are really pure clean and tasty. 

11^th has a sweet melon oily onset that slowly turns into a delicious bittersweet coco.  Strong Chesty Qi.  

12^th has a watery melon sweet onset with some creamy brown sugar sweet woody finish.  The Qi strength is lessening but still strong.

13^th same progression of tastes.

Overall, this is a superpowered Qi experience almost too intense and overwhelming at times! The taste matches the feeling with coco bittersweetness throughout.  The price is pretty decent for what you are getting here and I’m left wanting more… Puerh.uk has a winner here…

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Samples Ranking/ Thoughts

 Wow another excellent set of samples!  A bit harder to rank for me mainly because I’m not really in that head space lately and really enjoyed each for what they are.  I think I really understood about half of these with some of the others harder to wrap my mind around.  Looking back weeks later these are the ones that stand out to me.  In order of my enjoyment…

1- #1- this one had really nice energy about it and reminded me of Chawangshu energy so excellent qi experience- strong spaced out feeling with subtle neck releases that you find in the high end stuff.  Tighter rolled smaller leaves had great stamina.  Yiwu Gushu feeling!

2- #6- as above this is another tightly compressed smaller leaf puer.  This one has obvious drier Taiwanese storage and is a very subtle puerh with lots of complexity and nothing overpowering or strong at all.  Nice aged out feeling around 20 years I’m guessing and a Contemplative Qi experience.

3- #4- is an interesting example of Hongkong Traditional storage shu brick with interesting an unique if not a bit crude tasting.  Have never quite tasted this profile from an old HK Traditional shu before especially interesting subtle slower revealing tastes in the first handful of infusions.  Downside is a bit of throat scratchiness.  I hope this is one TeasWeLike can bring in as a cheaper drinker but it’s quite old at least 90s so …

4- #3- not sure I quite understand this one but it was pretty enjoyable and an interesting a new experience for me… These aged old loose leaves smell look and feel old but the taste of fresh watermelon with interesting juicy fruity taste coupled with aged dirty books and faint fruity incense it sort of reminds me of fruity hooka! For some reason Lao Man E came to mind.  Has a warning make-you-sweat Qi with an enlivening happy vibe!

5-#2- This is a well stored a bit smoky Malaysian stored factory production from 2005-2007 that reminds me lots of the famous 2005 Nanqiao Double Lions Bulang but much less powerful.  The balance of smoky BBQ Mesquite and creamy pasty sweetness is nice.  Expected enlivening factory energy.

6- #5- creamy! and acidic at times with a wood varnish taste with somewhat spacey Qi and faint body tingles.  This reminded me of 2003 Hongkong Henry Serious Prescription in some ways.  Shows some drier storage qualities 2003-2006 factory production.

There you have it…. 

Let us wait for Marco’s big reveal to set me straight.

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #6

 

Dry leaves are very compressed and smell of dry old dusty woody.

First infusion has a pond and water taste to it some faint fruity taste in the very far distance.

The second is left to cool and gives off a pond/marshland taste of Taiwanese Dry storage pretty watery with not much to it yet…

The third infusion has a mild spice wood with pond taste.  Very mild still some faint cooling breath and subtle sweet edge.  Slow heart opening Qi.

The fourth infusion has a watery mouthfeeling with a subtle spice and icing sugar taste.  Hard to grasp watery taste here with a warm and Heart opening Qi.  Faint mouth moss.  Faint cooling throat.  Strong mild calm.

Fifth infusion has a pond marshland intial taste with very faint mild woody spice in a watery mouthfeeling.  There is spice and faint sweet edges but just faint mild through and through. Mild chest Qi.

6^th is a smooth pond and mashland sugar sweet taste in a watery smooth broth sort of warming spice and woody finish.  Nice cooling and sugar finish.  Very clear profile.  Thin soft faint mossy mouthcoating.  Overall very gentle and subtle puerh.  This infusion has a longer spice woody sugar aftertaste in the mouth supported by a cool throat and mid-deep depth.

7^th has a woody complex spicy minty woody onset with a subtle cooling throat and watery coating with a fine moosy coating that is almost a touch dry now.  The aftertaste becomes quite long in these last infusions with a woody sugar cooling spice finish.  Nice mind pausing effects with some mild heart opening.  Has no signs of young puerh left in there- should be early 2000s aged puerh over 20 years Taiwanese stored reminiscent of Wistaria’s puerh storage.

8^th has a minty spicy oily woody sugar onset of complex flavours in a very unimposing broth no astringency or bitterness at all nor a strong mouthfeeling.  This is all about subtle complexity.  Oily watery mouthfeeling subtle cooling with woody sugar sweetness.  Oily and smooth with lots of subtle complexity.

9^th has a woody oily sweet sugar spice clear complex taste.  There is a mossy almost but not really dry mouthfeeling and cooling finish of woody spice sugar.  Pond-marshland storage taste underneath is faint.  Chest and Heart opening feeling and mind pausing Qi- contemplative and complex.  This puerh feels really good through and through.  Longer and longer aftertaste.

10^th brown sugar woody spice it seems to be more sweet, complex opening is joined by a cool throat with woody spice sugar finish.   The mouthfeeling is an oily watery mossy taste the throat opening is mid to deep.  The Qi is profoundly mind pausing with Chest opening feeling.  Feels really nice- ready to drink- sufficiently aged puerh.

11^th infusion has that same complex woody, sugar, spice taste- this puerh is terribly reliable and great stamina in the tight compression of these quality material.  Oily texture keeps things feeling full and satisfied where the deeper open throat with cooling keep the taste going long in the aftertaste. The Qi is mind pausing with Chest warming feeling.  Deep contemplation takes place now under the influence of the Chaqi.

12^th woody spice sugar complex but less oily here.  Some cooling throat and long subtle woody spice finish.  Long woody aftertaste in the cooling throat.  Peaceful sensations.  Open chest.  Calm contemplations.

13^th is left to cool and is a woody not as spicy but more sugar sweet in the aftertaste.  Less oily but still not dry really- a thin mossy coating with some mild cooling throat before the aftertaste.  Quite calm, slight warming.

14^th infusion has a spicy woody almost medicinal onset but not anything close to bitter or astringent. Woody sugar pop of taste.  Chest opening. 

15^th has a spicy woody not very sweet onset with a mossy tongue coating and mild cooling woody aftertaste.  This infusion is less sweet.  

16^th is left to cool but still this stable woody spice mossy mouthcoating.  The mild flat sugar sweetness and oily mouthfeeling are starting to wane a bit now so I put it into mug steepings..

The mug steepings are a bit bitter woody puckering with edges of sugar and a long deep cooling in the throat.  This is a really nice puerh!  Strong Qi sensation washes over me.

I had a really nice experience with this clear Taiwanese stored puerh that had a very nice stamina, mind stopping very contemplate Qi with Chesty warmth and opening feeling.  Strong in its calm.  No astringency or bitter what so ever but very full and satisfying oily mossy and deeper throat opening with woody, spicy, surgar clear and steady profile.  I had a really good time with this one and it feels really good.  This could be a pretty expensive puerh considering the profile!

(Pictured top #4, mid #5, bottom #6)

Guess: early 2000s Taiwanese stored Gushu Growing area unknown

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #5

 Dry leaves have muted sweet woody grains.

The first infusion has a coppery milky taste.  Nice creamy body and fluffy mouthfeeling.  Has a creamy almost fruity edge to it.  Faint cooling at the finish with muted creamy sweet taste.

The second infusion has a creamy nutty slight woody pond taste.  Creamy coco returning sweetness.  Chalky mouthfeeling.  Nice cooling creamy coco finish some vegetal woody faint base taste underneath.  Relaxing bodyfeeling with very mild floating bodyfeeling.  Tastes a bit more humidly stored but Mid-aged.  Not sure about the storage tastes somewhere between Taiwanese and Malaysian- probably somewhere my brain isn’t taking me to… Maybe dry stored Malaysian? Not sure…

Third infusion has a woody resin sweet woody taste.  This tastes almost like varnish woody.  Reminds me a lot of 2003 Hong Kong Henry “Conscientious Prescription” it has that woody furniture varnish with a orange citrus finish to it. Very woody taste up front but turns a bit creamy. Has a decent level of acidity and a sandy gripping mouthfeeling and stimulating upper throatfeeling. Sort of tingling floating bodyfeeling.

The fourth infusion has a woody sweet acidic onset.  The cooled down infusion has a woody creamy almost citrus fruit taste.  There is a substantial woody character over creamy sweet citrus taste.  There is a spacy Qi feeling with some tingling bodyfeelings.  Sort of reminds me of Chen Yuan Hao here but more like 2003 HK Henry Conscientious Prescription even a bit 7532 Menghai Factory.

5^th has a woody creamy resin incense onset with woody edges and feeling of mild spacy and floating feelings.  Strong woody resin body in this puerh with a nice long cooling over a sandy mouthcoating and upper throat stimulation. Tingling whole body Qi with spaced out feeling. 

6^th has a very woody onset with creamy citrus finish.  There are lots of resin notes as well with a citric almost orange fruity edge to it.  Incense and resin body to this one.  Nice spacy with body tingling.  Thin sandy mouthfeeling with a bit of upper throat simulation.

7^th has a deeper woody resin taste.  Like furniture with acidic and citrus in there.  This is something really like 2003 HK Henry.  Sandy thin mouhfeeling with upper throat stimulation.  Nice spaced out Qi with body tinges.  Deep cooling in the throat with creamy sweet edges in the aftertaste. 

8^th has a woody furniture varnish taste.  This is much less sweet and woodier furniture with edges of acidic orange.  Nice spacy feeling.

9^th has a very woody varnish resin taste with a bit of acidity and not too much sweetness left.  Sandy thin full coating mouthfeeling with some upper throat stimulation.  Has a talc dry storage taste in there like incense.  It pours a bit lite but has an older dry stored feeling 2001-2005 maybe.

10^th is left to cool and has a creamy woody taste a bit of acidic tastes.  Nice creamy sweet taste.  

11^th has a woody varnish acidic sweetness to it. Very woody with a bit of cooling breath and incense resin taste.

I mug steep out the rest… it offers woody acidic taste with not much sweetness left in there.  A long day steeping pushes out sweet bread and faint cooling returning sweetness.

Guess: 2003-2006 Factory production similar to Hong Kong Henry Conscientious Prescription or even possibly Menghai Factory Deliciousness. Re-reading the notes it seems a bit unclear…

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #4

 The last blind sample #3 seemed to almost be a puerh style I have little experience with and was a bit harder for me to grasp but this one seems like something much more deliciously familiar to me… here are my thoughts as I go through the session…

Dry leaves look like a Fu brick from Hunnan as you can see the large twigs and leaves … brick shape with tinny white dots of mold and thick stems/small twigs… has a woody fall leaves and limey mildew sort of odour… Yummy…  There is white dots of mold that indicate that it might be HongKong traditionally stored or possibly other wet storage not the Yellow spores that you see from Fuzhuan.  Definitely has a post fermented processing look to it… maybe a crude shu brick traditionally stored…?

First infusion has a watery onset with woody almost bready sweet flavours.  It is a bit watery with lots of space there is a grassy hay and woody finish… tastes not really like Fuzhuan but not my experience with Traditional Hongkong stored bricks either… sort of like something in between…

The second infusion has a woody hay milky hay sweet monotone taste there is edges of sweetness that are like a grains type sweetness.  Light mild watery mouthfeeling. Nice light warming Qi. Beautiful waming simplicity and enjoyment this time of year!

The third has a woody milky coco taste.  It is smoother here with more of an oilier mouthfeeling and milky.  Milky grains sweet finish.  Mild warming Qi.  As the liquor cools it becomes quite nutty sweet.  This infusion tastes more like a Hongkong Traditionally stored puerh.  It tastes really good in its own way.  The leaves look like it is likely shu.

The fourth infusion has a nice milky nutty sweetness that is reminiscent of Hongkong Traditional storage.  It has an oily mouthfeeling and woody grains milky finish.  The mouthfeeling is a touch sandy somewhat oily and a bit of spacious watery.  Nice mild warming feeling.

The 5^th infusion has a milky woody hay and watery mouthfeeling.  Lots of space in the mouth simple but enjoyable warmth.  The mouthfeeling is becoming a bit scratchy in the throat. 

The 6^th infusion has a woody fallen leaves and not that creamy sweet but woodier hay taste.  Drier mouthfeeling now as the session progresses with a bit of throat starchiness.  Becoming more fallen leaf and even a bit mushroom.

7^th is left to cool and gives off a milky sweet oily taste with some woody almost nutty finish.  The nutty finish makes me think of Hongkong Traditional storage shu Brick but the less complex taste and feel is reminiscent of Fuzhuan Brick- the one for sure is that the fermentation technique is obvious- this is not sheng puerh and I’m leaning heavily that this is a HK traditional stored Shu puerh that is at least from the 90s but the material is not the highest quality but the storage more than makes up for it.  This also tastes a bit different/unique from other HK Trad stored Shu bricks I’ve hand… I appreciate the experience here.

8^th is left to cool and gives off a woody creamy almost mushroom fallen leaf taste. Faint creamy sweet and nutty but distant in the more woody aftertaste over a drier mouthfeeling now.

9^th is also left to cool and has a woody fallen leaf mushroom taste over a flat dry and a bit throat scratching throatfeeling. 

I do a longer infusion just for fun… a good 60 second steeping…

10^th infusion has a milky nutty and a bit more oiliness to it.  Still some throat scratchiness and a nice mild warming Qi.  Longer infusions here give it a subtle nutty even coco nuance with oilier feeling and some throat cooling.  Likely a cheaper but yet satisfying older drinker.

11^th is another long infusion that gives off a woody, nutty, mushroom taste to it.  A bit oily but drying mouthfeeling with scratchy throat. Warming Qi.

12^th is another long one… and is much more nutty and woody.  Nice woody almost creamy sweet with subtle cool throat finish.  The longer infusion time the smoother it is at this point…

I put it into overnight infusions… and it has nutty dirt deep oily but a bit sweet taste.  Taste shu processing but also the nuttier sweetness and more humid traditional storage. 

Guess: Hongkong traditionally stored Shu puerh brick at least 90s old maybe older of not that great quality materials.  It leads me to wonder if the seller was selling this one for the material or the storage?  If selling for the material this could be a nice cheaper aged drinker… if for the storage might be a pricier drinker…

Peace

Marco’s 2022 Blind Sample #3

 

Dry leaves smell of aged puerh with that old books and basement kind of smell but also a sweet odour in there as well, mild smoky BBQ.  There are black and reddish looking leaves in there looks like aged loose sheng.  Looks like this is puerh that was aged loose which is evident by the clumps and long shot to be an aged Lou tou cha a common by product of Shu or maybe even aged huang pian?

First infusion has a creamy smooth sweet fruity watermelon taste that is very mouthwatering and juicy and spacious in the mouth.  There is edges of dusty book but surprisingly juicy fruity watermelon.  The juxtaposed tastes of both fresh fruity watermelon and aged dusty books is confusing to me and interesting.  I’m thinking this is aged sheng hunagpian but the amount of space in the mouth and the juiciness.  Is definitely sheng material.

The second has a fruity aged watery taste to it.  It has a nice soothing broth that is fully aged sheng material.  Very soothing energy.  It has an interesting juicy fruity taste mainly with aged duty books and fruity faint incense.  Sort of reminds me of a fruity hooka.   The juicy oily feeling fills the mouth and throat.  There is some deeper throat simulation.  

Third infusion has a fruity oily full taste the fresh watermelon is less but there is an interesting ashy sweet taste in there mainly sweet aged fruity taste. Some dusty ashy aspect but very background.  The mouthfeeling is oily and lubricating and wet but there is still some faint puckering finish.  Feel like it has a nice body of almost sort of bitterness underneath.  I have never tried Lao Man E huang pian aged out but I imaging it could taste like this. Very tasty.  Has a warming make-you-sweat Qi here.  Strong enlivening warming happy Q in here.

The fourth infusion has a rich dense oily dusty sweet taste which is in an oily soothing broth. Strong warming and happy vibes with a bit of Heart beats.  The cooled down infusion is even more smooth with a smooth oily sweetness overall and strong Qi which you can feel in the head like a stuffy pressure along with strong happy feeling.

5^th infusion has a milky oily fruity texture with a long oily sweet extension of taste.  There is no noticeable smoke or incense or ash in the last few infusions just smooth broth. 

6^th is Oops a good 30-60second infusion here… it is a bit thicker and its base is has a bit more strong depth almost bitter- woody furniture rich taste almost nutty now.  Has a Honkkong Traditional Storage vibe to it.  Finishes nutty and sweet.

I liked that…7^th is a few minutes long infusion… oily dusty rich milky nutty… faint cool throat… warming with head heaviness and happy vibes. There is a pop of initial flavours sweetness then a layered richness.  A bit head fuzzy but warming and soothing. 

8^th is a few minutes long again and gives off a fruity almost strawberry and old dusty taste.  Taste is fading a bit with oily mouthfeeling with a slight throat cooling.

I mug steep out the rest and it has a subtle gripping mouthfeeling with not much sweetness and more of an old dusty aged puerh taste.

I overnight steep it… the next morning it is watery somewhat sweet sugar but mainly watery old dusty aged puerh water… The spent leaves are quite large and still furrowed up with dark fermented hard texture but unfrowned is even a bit green.

Guess: Hong Kong Traditional Storage aged loose puerh- possibly Huang Pian.

Peace

Dry leaves smell of aged puerh with that old books and basement kind of smell but also a sweet odour in there as well, mild smoky BBQ.  There are black and reddish looking leaves in there looks like aged loose sheng.  Looks like this is puerh that was aged loose which is evident by the clumps and long shot to be an aged Lou tou cha a common by product of Shu or maybe even aged huang pian?

First infusion has a creamy smooth sweet fruity watermelon taste that is very mouthwatering and juicy and spacious in the mouth.  There is edges of dusty book but surprisingly juicy fruity watermelon.  The juxtaposed tastes of both fresh fruity watermelon and aged dusty books is confusing to me and interesting.  I’m thinking this is aged sheng hunagpian but the amount of space in the mouth and the juiciness.  Is definitely sheng material.

The second has a fruity aged watery taste to it.  It has a nice soothing broth that is fully aged sheng material.  Very soothing energy.  It has an interesting juicy fruity taste mainly with aged duty books and fruity faint incense.  Sort of reminds me of a fruity hooka.   The juicy oily feeling fills the mouth and throat.  There is some deeper throat simulation.  

Third infusion has a fruity oily full taste the fresh watermelon is less but there is an interesting ashy sweet taste in there mainly sweet aged fruity taste. Some dusty ashy aspect but very background.  The mouthfeeling is oily and lubricating and wet but there is still some faint puckering finish.  Feel like it has a nice body of almost sort of bitterness underneath.  I have never tried Lao Man E huang pian aged out but I imaging it could taste like this. Very tasty.  Has a warming make-you-sweat Qi here.  Strong enlivening warming happy Q in here.

The fourth infusion has a rich dense oily dusty sweet taste which is in an oily soothing broth. Strong warming and happy vibes with a bit of Heart beats.  The cooled down infusion is even more smooth with a smooth oily sweetness overall and strong Qi which you can feel in the head like a stuffy pressure along with strong happy feeling.

5^th infusion has a milky oily fruity texture with a long oily sweet extension of taste.  There is no noticeable smoke or incense or ash in the last few infusions just smooth broth. 

6^th is Oops a good 30-60second infusion here… it is a bit thicker and its base is has a bit more strong depth almost bitter- woody furniture rich taste almost nutty now.  Has a Honkkong Traditional Storage vibe to it.  Finishes nutty and sweet.

I liked that…7^th is a few minutes long infusion… oily dusty rich milky nutty… faint cool throat… warming with head heaviness and happy vibes. There is a pop of initial flavours sweetness then a layered richness.  A bit head fuzzy but warming and soothing. 

8^th is a few minutes long again and gives off a fruity almost strawberry and old dusty taste.  Taste is fading a bit with oily mouthfeeling with a slight throat cooling.

I mug steep out the rest and it has a subtle gripping mouthfeeling with not much sweetness and more of an old dusty aged puerh taste.

I overnight steep it… the next morning it is watery somewhat sweet sugar but mainly watery old dusty aged puerh water… The spent leaves are quite large and still furrowed up with dark fermented hard texture but unfrowned is even a bit green.

Guess: Hong Kong Traditional Storage aged loose puerh- possibly Huang Pian.

Pictured are blind samples 1 (top),2 (middle), 3 (bottom).

Peace