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I’ve had this one in storage for a little over a year and decided to add 1/2 the cake to my daily rotation box.

Despite advertising light fermentation, the tea liquor is very dark and rich. The flavor profile is also rich and not too earthy. Leather, dark cherry hardwood, bitter chocolate are noted with a smooth finish and a sweet thick aftertaste. This tea packs quite a punch too for a shou, fairly consistent with bulang area teas in my experience. I’m three steeps in and I’m feeling a little out there as I write this, perhaps I need to eat. Strong cha qi!

This is a great little shou from a smaller manufacturer. A great change of pace and an excellent tea. I’m looking forward to enjoying this one over the next few months.

I got this tea in the White2Tea monthly package for December 2014. It was sent as a “daily drinker” which to me meant a good tea, but nothing special. I think this label is a little misleading however because this tea is fantastic! Probably one of the better young raw pu erh’s I’ve had actually. I used about 8g in a 200ml yixing, and again in a 200ml porcelain teapot. The tea is a nice golden color and has an floral, honey aroma. The tea has an excellent balance of bitterness and sweetness, maybe a little more sweet and bitter but a perfect balance to my palate. I taste floral and honey flavors with a nice sweet aftertaste, just really delicious. I even felt a little tea buzz from the first steeping as I was preparing the second. I could easily drink this one daily which is nice as I’m not really fond of many young sheng pu ehrs, I think most shengs need a good bit of again before I enjoy them, but not this one! A+ from the guys at White2Tea. I might even have to get another one of these.

Another solid offering from Menghai. This one has a nice dark liquor with rich tones of raisin, and cocoa with a hint of bark. Not terrible complex, but a solid tea. Like most gong tings, this one only lasts 5 or so steepings before fading but they are some amazing 5 steepings! I’ve had this one several times now, and not too much cha qi to speak about but this one is a good one for the morning… a daily drinker type.

A nice little cake. Fairly loose compression, tiny leaves (I mean really tiny). After a 20s rinse, the tea broke open FAST! I did 5-10s steeps, but could have gone with 2s the tea brewed so fast. Dark, dark color with a cocoa, earthy, leathery, raisin flavor. Being such a fine grade leaf the tea steeped out in 5-6 steepings, but they were delicious! A good one for a daily drinker.

Fantastic tea! Very loose compression, especially for a shou. Big broad leaves in this one, I used around 8g in a 200ml yixing with a rinse and 10s steeps initially. The color was a little lighter than expected, a deep reddish brown. The tea was sooooo smooth! It just flows in the mouth with little to no resistance. Flavors showed good complexity with notes of leather, dates, and spices. The hui gan of this tea kicks you right in the mouth! Lots of times I’ll have to breath in or out to notice the hui gan of a tea, but this one has an immediate numbing sensation on the roof of the mouth and tongue. Great cha qi too! An awakening, reassuring calmness is what I got from this tea and I quite enjoyed it. Based on reviews I bought a whole cake before sampling it first and I’m not disappointed in the least! This is one hell of a shou pu erh!

Sip down of one of my favorites. I checked my records and I ordered this cake a little over a year ago. I’m surprised it lasted this long! I simply love this one, one of my favorite shou pu erh’s. To me it’s right up there with the 2007 golden needle white lotus I have, at considerable less cost. Smooth, smooth, warm, comforting, delicious! It’s sad to see this one leave my daily rotation, but I already have another one in storage. I am grateful to have had this tea over this past year. :)

I got a 15g sample and split it into two sessions. The first session I was very impressed. This note is about my second session. First steeping I shared a cup with my mom. She noted some mild bitter aftertaste. She also said “whoo, this tea is making me dizzy, I probably shouldn’t have anymore”. I didn’t want to tell her she was getting tea drunk off one cup. She is really sensitive though but I was feeling it too after the first steeping. This tea is way too strong on an empty stomach! An omelet and a pear later and I delved into the next couple steepings…

Golden color and floral scent, taste of melon and honey with an initial sweetness and mild bitter aftertaste. Very sweet for a young sheng and the melon taste was quite pleasant. The liquor has a little viscosity to it which I liked, went down very smooth and coated the mouth and throat. The cha qi character was much more enjoyable with some food in the belly. A little buzzy and out there, I would describe it. Kinda fun, but it was a little nauseating on an empty stomach.

Currently checking in around $80 this one is a little spendy, but an excellent candidate for long term storage. It will be a gem in its later years!

I got a 25g sample of this one as part of a Mengku sampler pack. I am very impressed! Strong golden color, the initial flavors are a floral mintyness with a slight hint of citrus. The aftertaste has a mild bitterness and astringency, some faint hui gan and maybe a hint of some roasted straw. The flavor profile is very complex and well balanced with no one flavor standing out. I could spend all day picking out different flavors in this tea. It also has a strong deep meditative cha qi to it. I wouldn’t want to do anything that required higher though after drinking this, like taking a math test, but more so I’d rather hang out in a mountain meadow next to a tree and a gentle brook and just relax for a few hours. After sampling this, I’m strongly considering buying a cake if I can find one. Excellent potential for long term storage!

Fairly loose compression on this one. The little 100g cake split clean in half with one insertion of the pu erh knife. Below boiling water temp, quick rinse and 10s for the first steep. As I was sitting down for the first cup something didn’t feel right. I took one sip, but felt compelled to dump the first steeping so I did. Second steeping around 15s. The color is very light like “did I steep this long enough” light… golden yellow. Dominant notes of grasses and straw with lighter notes of floral, perhaps lotus, and very mild bitterness. Perhaps it was expectation, perhaps it was the tea, but I definitely noticed a significant glowing, warming, expansion of the heart center more-so than from any other tea I’ve had which was pleasant. I was also dealing with some Snickers ice cream bar induced nausea which was quelled after a few cups. Remind me that ice cream is not in my best interest.

After my first steeping I noticed an aftertaste of honey while waiting for water to warm for more steepings. Subsequent steepings saw the grassy, straw notes fade while floral sweetness and honey notes came more to the forefront. Simply wonderful cha qi with the aforementioned heart center feeling as well as a calming, everything is fine in the world, sense. I’m really enjoying this one right now.