2002 Mengma Qi Zi Bing Cha Raw Puerh Cake 357g

I got a 25gr sample if this tea to see if I wanted more. I was warned that 90% of the people didn’t like it and the 10% that did were mostly Russian customers. Something in my Russian heritage must have come alive because this is a wonderful find.

The aroma is quite strong, pungent and a little smoky. The fist infusion was little light but the flavors were noticeable enough to pick out some hints of what was to come. The second infusion was fantastic, like a hickory smoked meat or cheese but without the saltiness.

You can really taste the age of the tea, the woodiness has a little more kick to it. There isn’t much if any fruity notes that I have found in Shengs even as old as 2003 so I think that speaks to the wet storage speeding up the aging, creating the darker, richer brews. The liquor was a deep orange, Grade B Honey hue.

I’m 10 infusions in and not going to quit any time soon. This has high potential for my Puer class menu!

Another real bargain from Chawangshop. I really like pu with a strong character and I like to hunt for them. Yes, it’s pretty unique sheng: decent price for an aged cake, outstanding aroma/taste of boiled prunes, unusual pu area (Mengma).
Very similar to aged Xiaguan tuos, but more interesting for my taste. I’m not sure but I think that it’s a purple puerh. Hard to say because leaves are almost black :)
What a wonderful smell of brewed leaves after ending tea session! Love it, just an example to me how good aged sheng can be!

P.s I recommend to do few rinses with boiling water before brewing. It helps to remove all odours of wet storage. But then you should brew tea with water slightly cooler than usual to get more flavour and more delicate taste.
Nov 2011