940 Tasting Notes
This sheng is now 6 years old and clearly much less fragrant than it used to be. I can taste a lot of the flavours from previous notes, the taste is very clean and mineral in some sense. I think it has a stronger dried fruit and brothy presence now though. The cooling aftertaste is also quite pronounced.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Broth, Cooling, Dried Fruit, Floral, Mineral, Raspberry, Sugarcane, Sweet, Umami
Nice aroma and good flavours, but ultimately this tea lack something special to stand out for me. It has a flleting taste with a good hoppy bitterness and nut much sweetness. However, one can find sour, woody, nutty, malty, bready, fruity, floral and even smoky qualities.
Flavors: Bitter, Bread, Floral, Hops, Lime, Malt, Nutty, Sour, Woody
This Dan Cong is more floral and grainy than fruity for sure, but it also carries a good sweetness. The bitterness and astringency are medium, and can be easily adjusted with brewing method. The liquor is oily and the mouthfeel after drinking is quite interesting: drying, perfumy, tropical, and spicy.
Specific notes I notice are baked fruits, sesame, canola, clay, and many flowery ones.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Clay, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Grain, Oily, Perfume, Sesame, Spicy, Stewed Fruits, Sweet, Tropical
Preparation
This tea has quite a high degree of fermentations for a Fu Zhuan. It is a very interesting one overall. I particularly like the unique aroma, the thick and buttery mouthfeel, and the cha qi. The tea pours warming sensation through my veins and brings me in tune with my body.
The dry leaf aroma reminds me of barn and freshly roasted coffee beans. After the rinse, the smell is more like wet earth with lots of organic matter, but still with some coffee bean hints. Overall, the aroma reminds be both of aged Yancha as well as Tian Jian.
The taste is smooth, woody, herbaceous, and buttery with hints of tobacco and a dry finish. It is cooling and numbing. The aftertaste is a bit sour with flavours such as those of medium to light roasted coffee and peanuts.
Flavors: Barnyard, Butter, Coffee, Drying, Herbaceous, Peanut, Peat, Smooth, Sour, Thick, Tobacco, Wet Earth, Woody
A lovely warming pu-erh from a village that I have not explored very much.
The aroma is sweet with notes of rapini, peas, acorn, passion fruit, and green peppers. It smells a bit like a cold-brewed sencha in its current youthful state.
The mouthfeel is light, airy, and velvety, but with a strong presence, especially in the pungent and protracted sensations after drinking, which are cooling, expansive, numbing and floral.
The taste is bitter and vegetal above all, with the second half of the session bringing progressively more sweetness. There is a refreshing juiciness to it, and sometimes reminds me of beer (such as a lagered ale). I also found flavours of apples, leafy vegetables, honey and herbs. Additionally, the incredibly fragrant aftertaste carries notes of musk, fern, alcohol, apple leaves and more.
Flavors: Alcohol, Apple, Beer, Bitter, Broccoli, Floral, Green Bell Peppers, Herbaceous, Honey, Juicy, Musk, Passion Fruit, Peas, Pungent, Sweet, Vegetables, Vegetal
Preparation
I really like this sheng. The aroma is complex and very pleasant, at first like a sweet orchard, then more like a nutty meadow. It has a full body and a thick oily mouthfeel that’s at the same time quite light and smooth.
The taste is sweet and extremely floral, but also fairly nutty and bitter like sage and walnuts.
Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Fruit Tree Flowers, Meadow, Nutty, Oily, Sage, Smooth, Sweet, Thick, Walnut
Preparation
[Autumn 2017 harvest]
This tea is really continuing to age quite nicely.
It has a complex aroma, a comforting taste, and a pungent sweet aftertaste. Dry leaves smell like leather, forest floor, black cardamom. After the rinse, the aroma is more medicinal and mineral with notes of forest, bay leaf, honey, and many others.
The tea has a strong woody bitterness and flavours of agave, maple syrup, and autumn leaf pile.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Bay Leaf, Bitter, Cardamom, Forest Floor, Herbs, Honey, Leather, Maple Syrup, Medicinal, Mineral, Sweet, Woody
Preparation
Checking in on this affordable cake is always a pleasure. It is always very flavourful and has a thick, velvety mouthfeel.
Its aroma is now a bit muted, with predominately fruity and herbaceous notes as well as hints of tobacco.
The taste is refreshing and full. There is a tonic-like bitterness and more forest notes than in the past, but also enough sweetness and a spicy finish. I find the tea also more nutty and less floral than before, with flavours of wood, hazelnuts, malt.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Floral, Hazelnut, Herbaceous, Malt, Nutty, Spicy, Sweet, Thick, Tobacco
Preparation
As I still have the 2019 cake, I wasn’t in a rush to try the new one immediately. I was craving this specific tea today, as it happens once in a while, so after a couple of months in storage, I decided to break in the 2023 vintage today.
The tea deliver what I would expect. It has that supremely balanced taste that is sweet, fruity, woody, and nutty at the same time. I also enjoy the thick, oily mouthfeel.
The tea has a floral aroma, with notes of gum, berries, fruit jam, flowers, wood, shellfish, as well as honey.
Flavors: Berries, Floral, Flowers, Fruity, Hay, Honey, Jam, Marine, Nutty, Shellfish, Sweet, Thick, Wood
Preparation
For a Mengku sheng, this one is quite bitter and nutty, but also floral, earthy and mineral. It also has a medium to full body and a very present cha qi.
The aroma sugarcane, forest floor, alcohol, celery, and grains. The taste is floral, sour and spicy, but primarily bitter. There are notes of chicory, black pepper and sugar beet.
Flavors: Alcohol, Bitter, Black Pepper, Chicory, Floral, Forest Floor, Grain, Mineral, Roots, Sour, Spicy, Sugarcane