Thursday, August 29, 2024

2024 Essence of Tea Manlin: Complex Contradictory Qi Feelings!

 

Okay, I only have one experience with the ManLin producing area and it was really nice pure long memorable long sugar and icing sugar tastes with nice feeling in the body and relaxing mind- it was the 2016 Zheng Si Long ManLin from Tea Encounter.  The session is still memorable and one of the my favourite Zheng Si Long that they offered.  I will retaste in detail after the main feature… The 2024 Essence of Tea Manlin Selected Trees which goes for $124.00 for 200g cake or $0.62/g.  “Selected trees” means only the oldest most ancient trees were selected from the garden and the result shows!  I was most excited about trying this one from the 2024 Tea Encounter lineup so it was the first I sampled…. and I was not disappointed !!!

Dry leaves have a sweet light airy sugary forest odour.

Rinsed leaves have a clear pure green slight roasted forest odour to them.

First infusion has a pure watery onset with a developing lingering sweetness.  There is a watery almost delicate sugared sweetness with faint ghostly maybe melon/ orange blossom.  Faint mouthfeeling and calming feeling.

Second infusion has a buttery sweet clear pure taste with light bodyfeeling and soft oily sandy mouthfeel. Some cooling breath with mid-deep throat opening cooling lingering sugar melon taste.  Relaxing peace stillness.  

Third infusion has a buttery clear wet taste with oily slight woody and mid- throat cool breath.  There is a mild sticky feeling in the mouth. Lingering icing sugar melon aftertaste even minutes later. Melon woody icing sugar.  Light limbs and and sort of airy almost floating bodyfeel is really nice.  Very stilling and clear focusing Qi but is also happy and spirt uplifting.  The result is a complex very subtle Qi feeling for me!



Fourth has a buttery slight floral cool breath brings out a return of subtle sweet melon popping and sugar. Long lingering melon sweet.  Happy uplifting mild euphoria and nice mind stillness and focusing with deep clear thoughts energy.  Some light limbs and even more energetic chest beats now.

Fifth has a buttery forest onset with some mild bitterness and sweet edges now wet mild oily texture with sticky tongue and mouthfeel.  Lingering returns of melon sweetness.  Strong chest beats contrasted light airy limbs.  Strong energy happiness contrasts a still mind focus.  The result is a complex Qi feeling. It feels so good…

Sixth infusion has a mild bitter woody onset with sweet return of bready tastes with melon and sugar edges.   The bitter is long and I faced with sweet.  The mouthfeel is a more tight stickiness now.  Some mild mid throat saliva gob.  Happy energy uplift with light limbs and strong Heart beats limbs focusng.

Seventh infusion is left to cool and has a sweet pear icing sugar taste with forest and cool breath and mild bitterness but a smooth freshening sweet sugar long taste.  Complex Qi is more peaceful slowness than energetic happy.  Light limbs.

Eighth is a long bitter sweet icing sugar melon.  Nice long melon icing sugar sweetness now.  Sticky mouthfeel. Big chest beats with calm focus and light limbs.

Summer heat wave power outage so I dump the spent leaves into a thermos and long steep it out… it is quite bitter with a forest woody taste and melon and sugar sweet finish.  The long sweet taste of refreshing melon and sugar. The mouthfeel is sticky and gripping but the sensation is more on the tongue and front of the mouth so the throat remains open and unaffected- it cools some cooling breath mid throat.


was 


This one is all about the complex and almost contradictory Qi and bodyfeelings that somehow make me feel so good!  Love it!

Vs 2016 Zheng Si Long Man Lin Retaste

Dry leaves has a sweet woody icing sugar slight candy odour.

First infusion has a soft sweet creamy custard woody onset with an oily texture and oily feeling in the mouth it returns a bit and is long and creamy.

Second infusion has a hay/ straw/ cereal and woody onset with overall sweet taste and finish of icing sugar custard.  Pure oily texture. Icing sugar custard aftertaste.  Sticky mouthfeel.  Lingering faint sweetness. Clear and pure. Mild Qi sensations.

Third infusion has a cereal woody texture with a quite thicker oily texture it finishes sweet in the mouth with a long custard with icing sugar edges sweetness.  Slight sticky mouth with mid throat sensation.  Mild Qi feeling in the body and mind.  Peaceful feeling. Minutes later there is still a faint lingering sugar sweet.

Fourth infusion has a sweet cereal woody grains onset with icing sugar sweetness in a very thick oily texture.  There is hints at melon returning sweetness and has a long icing sugar central finish in a sticky tongue and mouthfeel.  Pure clear taste.  Faint cooling in mid throat.  Almost slight candy sweet minutes later.  Sighs and calm peace.

Fifth infusion has a melon grains/cereal onset with a floral and melon mid returning and cooling breath in mid throat with aftertaste of melon and icing sugar.  Peaceful calm. Cooled down it is very oily texture with a faint sticky mouthfeel and tongue underneath.  There is a candy finish minutes later in the mouth.  Mild peaceful calm.

Sixth has a melon icing sugar grains/cereal onset with cooling mid throat and melon returning icing sugar and long candy sweet finish.  Oily texture and sticky mouthfeel underneath.  Calm peaceful feel with faint light limbs. Sixth cooled down is very sweet creamy custard icing sugar sweetness with long candy finish in pure clear tastes.  Peaceful calm.  

Seventh infusion is a creamy sweet oily taste with icing sugar custard and finishes into a long candy finish! Very oily texture with moderate sticky mouth mid throat faint cooling.  Lots of evolving sweetness in a very oily texture is very nice!

Eighth left to cool is oily clear mild melon icing sugar sweet with cereal grains and long sweet faintly candy finish.  Nice oily texture.  There is a melon and candy finish so nice.  Soft sticky tongue and mouth.  Peaceful calm and slightly happy feeling.

9th infusion is a watery grains with lesser sweet taste and still some oily texture.  Still a bit of sweet long taste.  No bitterness or astringency at all here very smooth!

A comparison of these two areas has lots of similarities but the complex Qi of the 2024 Essence of Tea Manlin is its shining feature where the 2016 Zheng Si Long is all about the over the top pure crystalline icing sugar sweetness!  You can really get an idea of the character of Manlin from this comparison I feel… 

Peace 



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