Mei Leaf

I’ve been reviewing so many raw pu’ers lately it’s time for another ripe. At around forty cents per gram, this tea is crazy expensive for a shu. I ordered two five gram sample packs and after weighing them my scale displayed eleven grams. I used all of it in my 160ml Jianshui clay teapot and also drank the tea from a Jianshui clay teacup. I rinsed the tea for slightly under ten seconds and let the leaves rest and wake up for five minutes before I began brewing. I did seven steeps, the timing for these being 12s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 60s and 2 min.

Since my sample was already broken up into smaller pieces, I got a dark color right from the first brew. The liquor was exceptionally clear for such a young tea. The taste was sweet, with a little bit of the young shu vibe going on, but it was really minor. There was a darker note as well that was not quite chocolate nor coffee. The body was pretty average for the time being, could have been a bit better.

While the second infusion brewed perhaps even a bit darker, there was actually a little less body now than before. The taste was dominated by a generic unidentified darker note. While the tea started off less sweet than before, it got sweeter over time, developing into a cherry or cola type of sweetness. While it was not bitter, it was leaning a bit in that direction.

In the third steep the body got back closer to the first steep or maybe even a bit thicker. The taste was sweet, increasingly sweet. I could taste maybe a touch of vanilla or fudge, or maybe vanilla fudge. Yes, I would say the tea had a caramel vibe to it. As the tea cooled, I could catch a hint of dark chocolate in it. I was beginning to feel the tea in my body.

The body dropped again in the next steep. The taste was slightly sweet, quite generic. There weren’t really any distinct flavors for me to pick out. Maybe a bit of weak nougat if I really push it, but not much else. I was feeling the tea a little more now. While the tea continued brewing a dark color in the fifth infusion, there was almost no taste at all now. Maybe some generic sweetness, but not much else. There was a very distinct void of flavor. There was the most absolute basic ripe pu’er base, but nothing else. I was continuing to feel the qi, but the energy in this tea is one that caused a slightly unsettled feeling and a throbbing sensation in me, which was not something I enjoyed.

For the next infusion I decided to push the tea a little and brewed it for a full minute. The results were similar to before, only now there was an added note of a non-bitter bitterness. The flavors felt really stretched out, like the very late steeps of a tea. The tea actually reminded me of the taste of paper, and once I got that image in my head I could not get rid of it. I’m all for being adventurous when it comes to tea, but sorry I’m just not interested in drinking something that tastes like paper. The body was passable, but fairly thin for such an extended steep. The tea tasted absolutely hideous once it cooled down.

I brewed the seventh steep for full two minutes in an attempt to force out some sort of flavors of interest. I ended up over-brewing the tea as expected. Not much changed, however. The tea was still dominated by the dry paper taste and I decided to call it there. At this point I was so not into this tea that I didn’t have the fortitude try to do the science and see what else there was to see.

While this tea started out okay, maybe somewhat above entry-level ripes, from the fifth infusion onward I was not able to extract much from it besides color of which there was plenty. For a shu that costs forty cents per gram, four steeps is abysmal. That is poor for any kind of pu’er. While fairly easy and straightforward to drink in the early steeps, I honestly couldn’t recommend this tea even if price wasn’t a factor. There are simply so much better alternatives out there. If you want to experience a true high-end ripe, try one of Hai Lang Hao’s many excellent offerings or something by one of the vendors specializing in pu’er like Crimson Lotus Tea or Bitterleaf Teas. Also a personal favorite of mine similar to this one in flavor is the Menghai/Dayi “Xin Hai Bai Nian” which comes highly recommended.

Light and delicious, sweet, floral, roses, pumpkin pie, stewed apples and pears, nutty, thick and syrupy. An amazing white tea.

Baked biscuits, spices, some elusive pear notes. Shows some bitterness after swallowing but it goes away quickly. Some floral notes are noticeable, especially as the liquor cools down.

This can be a good introduction into PuErh teas. Almost no astringency, subtle minerality, pleasant woody notes finishing with lingering sweetness and floral freshness.

Sweet floral notes with some grassy undertones and just a touch of milkiness.

Something baked, nougat, lingering sweet liquorice, pastis, nori seaweed. A very interesting combo of flavors.

So fragrant and light. Sweet wild strawberries and delicate jasmine. Beautiful rose gold liquor.

Sweet and floral with a slight green tang underneath. Milky and buttery notes which bring along a salty sensation when I focus my attention on them.

Despite being spring 2017 material (acquired by the vendor about 8 months after picking), it tastes like it has a bit of humid storage on it, which matches with the darker leaf colour.

It has a fairly thick, creamy texture with accompanying sweetness. There is no bitterness and only some light astringency. Menthol/camphor aftertaste is immediately present. Later, longer steeps are even sweeter and plummy.

There’s some huangpian present and it’s quite stemmy, but also includes some buds along with fairly small leaves.

I think it is a good introduction pu’er. The price is quite high, so might be more suitable as a gift.

Rose lokum (turkish delight) and muscat grapes with very subtle tartness. Liquor is dark amber with hints of rose gold. Sweet and floral finish.

I was personally disapointed by this tea. There was no complexity. Just sort of dirt and old wood, which is fine but it was dull.

Flamed lemon peel, quince, sweetness, pleasant minerality and bitterness. As odd as it sounds I can also smell homemade ljutenica – something I didn’t expect to get in a tea but it’s just a hint and it brings back good memories.

Charcoal, caramel and stewed apples. High minerallity.

The wet leaves do have the smell of damp autumn day in the forest, wet caves and burnt paper, but the taste is super clean. I didn’t get any of the sweet stuff though. I should give it another try.

Sweet floral explosion. Incredible rich and buttery creaminess. Some lingering saltiness (that’s a first for me). And of course the egg custard. So much going on. Just amazing…

Still getting my palate used to puerhs. There’s definitely the wet earthy note. I also get the magnolia in the aftertaste, and the sweetness and the olive oil throat sensation.

There is the initial minerality but it’s less pronounced when you take out the smaller particles and keep the brewing times short. Apricot preserves, vanilla pudding, honey and linden blossom.

First raw puerh I’ve tried. The first two or three infusions have a very strong initial minerality with wood and leather on the nose. This tones down on subsequent infusions. For me it’s the finish that is really interesting – pronounced lingering sweetness of honey, strawberry and apricot preserves, a hint of flowers and linden blossom.

Cracked cardamom pods, cooling mint, pistachios, strawberries, cold rocks, and a greeness like eating a dandelion stem. And when it hits the back of your throat incredible sweetness like raw honey.

Dark and mysterious. The infused leaves have a charcoal smell to them, which carries over into the tea soup, which is creamy and thick, with notes of charcoal, burnt toffee, high-octane raw chocolate, coffee beans and raw cocoa. Very much to my liking.