SilasSteep Send Message

I broke off about 5 grams into my 100ml gaiwan rinsed twice and steeped with boiling water. This tea opened up pretty quickly considering that it came of a brick. A shout out to 2dog for sending me a free flat edge pu’erh pick in my last order as my thicker pointed pick kind of creates a lot of broken pieces especially with bricks. The wet leaf had a very nice honey/cherry sweet aroma along with the traditional ripe smells of a nice old barn stacked with hay and wet wood on a dirt floor. Wow, reading that back I could see how a non pu’erh tea drinker would think we are off our rocker for liking these tastes and smells. More for me. No fishiness just a bit of the normal fermentation smell on the rinses. This tea gave a nice thick liquor even at 5 grams. I am noticing that I prefer around 5-6 grams with my ripe and 7-8 with my raws. More than that gives me a bit more of the coffee taste with the ripe and I am not a coffee drinker. This tea is pretty delicious. Notes of the traditional coffee like bitter notes with a nice earthy/woody flavor that gives a bit of honey/tobacco sweetness on the back end. It gave pretty well considering it was only 5 grams. This one is definitely a great daily drinker. I am really digging the Menghai ripes. I imagine this one will get even better with age. I would say that this has a medium energy to it. Not too strong. Not too weak. I would recommend this to any ripe drinkers out there for a solid go to tea. Cant wait to try this one in a few more years.

Well, where to start with this one? I brewed up 5 grams in a 100ml gaiwan at 210/off boil. I gave two quick rinses. This tea was pretty compressed and took a few steeps to open up. It was so light in the beginning that there was nothing to even note. About steep 3 or 4 it started to give a little bit. The wet leaf smelled very floral and fruity with some slight tangy sourness in there. The material looks ok but nothing to write home about as it was a bit chopped looking to me bearing in mind this was a sample from W2T and I didnt personally break it off the cake. I feel that 5 grams was definitely not enough for 100ml, at least for me. It was so light that I wasn’t really experiencing the full offering of these leaves. For me this tea was VERY floral. I didn’t get any smokiness at all and the bitterness wasn’t too bad for a young sheng. The bitterness made its appearance around steep 4 and did stay but I was pushing the tea a bit because of how light it was. That is why I think I need to up the leaf to water ratio a bit. Maybe 7-8 grams to 100ml. I don’t think this first review is going to reflect my true opinion of this tea as I need to revisit it with more leaf ammo for the gaiwan. I didn’t really get any fruitiness but very floral throughout. I gave up around steep 10 or so. The smell is great and the taste in smooth and light. I think this one is going to be very good the next time I brew with more leaf. I am hoping to get some of those fruity flavors that are noticeable on the nose of the wet leaf. Definitely will be a good tea with some more age. I think a purchase of the full cake wouldn’t be a bad investment especially at the price point its at.

So I brewed up about 7 grams in a 100ml gaiwan at about 210f/off boil. This tea is 2012 material and looks really great. Nice big leaves and actually some of the better ripe leaves that I have personally ever seen. I gave two rinses and began the trip. First infusion was a bit more bitter than I had hoped so I backed my steep time off just a bit…maybe a bit less leaf next time would help. I can really tell that this is a younger ripe. But with that said it is the smoothes ripe that I have had personally. Very smooth. I didnt get really any sweetness that it boasts as it was more earthy and coffee like bitter. I also think giving it a rest for a bit would help because I pulled it out of the box today! Some slight sweetness did come through on the later steeps (5 or 6). This tea does have some staying power. Gave multiple steeps. My overall opinion is that this tea is going to be amazing with a bit more age. It has a nice buttery sweet smell on the wet leaf now that will come out in the flavor later on. I would recommend buying some of this before it goes away because in a couple of years this tea will be awesome. That said, its is already a good tea. I will revisit this tea in a few more weeks to see if the taste of the trip has worn off and gives me something else to say as I feel that it needs a bit of airing out for a proper review. Still yummy tho.

I broke off about 6-7g into my 100ml gaiwan and brewed at about 210f. I had to give two long rinses as this is from a brick and a “nugget” ripe. I bought this after having the 2009 and falling in love. It was sweet, thick and had a dark molasses finish. This one isn’t quite there yet. Its pretty good now but not as sweet and could use another year or two. I still enjoyed this tea but I have already been spoiled by the 2009 and am comparing. I am glad I bought this brick and can’t wait to visit it in the future tho I will probably break some off for a taste in just a couple of months to check on it. The 2009 is sold out except for some samples I think…which I should hoard…but this one will be just as good in a couple of years I think. Sweet, tobacco and earthy flavors and scent. My favorite.

So I brewed up about 7g in a 100ml gaiwan at about 210f. I rinsed twice. A nice looking dark liquor. The wet leaf gives the traditional ripe smells…no fishiness at all with the barnyard scent that we all love. This tea has a rosemary/sage smell on the wet leaf as well as in the taste. I feel this tea definitely needs some age as it needs to mellow out a bit more but hey its a young ripe and what you would expect. I think this is a decent ripe with gong ting grade leaves but doesn’t brew out too fast as you would think. It holds up well and gave a decent amount of steeps. I can’t really give my opinion of this tea as it is just a baby and hasn’t grown into a mature tea that can handle my criticism. But overall I would say this will be a good tea in a couple/few years. Cheap little cake thats worth a bit of the shelf in the storage space.

So I brewed up about 7 grams in a 100ml gaiwan at about 210f. Two customary rinses to get the funky junk of the pile off. This tea has lost that fermented smell and wasn’t funky at all. I see some reviews saying it is fishy but I imagine these are older tastings and this tea has had time to mellow out. I did quick steeps at first at about 5-8 seconds. I find this ripe to be a light smooth mouthfeel but not lacking at all. I brewed a bit heavy to see what it had. I noticed a really nice caramel flavor or honey sweetness on the back end. It has the traditional coffee-esque bite that a good ripe has. Definitely a good morning tea. A medium energy to this one. Not too strong, not too weak. It didn’t give a ton of infusions like some other ripes but gave enough to enjoy. Not a bad tea. More age will make it even better.