pu-erh of the day. Sheng or Shou
2011 Menghai Dayi MengSong Tuo Raw
This is my second MengSong sheng in the past week. Smooth and mellow with a gentle fruity sweetness. I’m a fan. Although very enjoyable right now, for me I think this one will benefit from a few years of maturity to reach its true potential. Comparing the 2005 6FTM Mengsong 357g to this 2011 Dayi MengSong 250g, I would say they definitely share similar characteristics (as one would expect with material from the same tea growing area). They are both sweet, fruity, and smooth with good mouthfeel. Similar in cost when price is calculated per gram so either tea is a worthwhile purchase if these characteristics appeal to you. My personal preference is the 2005 6FTM cake since I found a more complex flavor profile and more durability. So my plan is to drink the 2005 now and go back to the 2011 Dayi in two to three years when it should yield a very exciting cup.
I feel like one of the cool kids. 2008 Haiwan Ultimate Flavor
Here’s a mystery tea I have as well. So far we have deducted it’s a 2006 Menghai Yiwu something or other. I can’t find any photos of cakes like it on websites. I probably paid too much for this but I got to taste it at the shop.
Menghai Hongcheng Tea factory. “Reaching reverence brand” (zhizunhao)It may six to eight years old but can only tell by the stamp on the wrapper. 6-8 yrs, well really depends on storage conditions.
But if you tasted it, then you know what you’re getting. Nothing else really matters.
Thanks for the info, I agree the taste is what matters but the sales person knew nothing about it, so it’s fun to have more information about its origin. Definitely it’s a good tea :)
The big title says: Yiwu Gushu— Yiwu Ancient Arbor.
Depending on fermentation style, the age of a ripe, probably isn’t that big a deal.
@Yang-chu – no fermentation odor/taste, lighter in body, clean taste, mellow energy, dates & fruit flavor with sugarcane in the aftertaste. Just a nice every day drinking tea.
I enjoyed the new Whispering Pines loose shou blend Mirkwood. It is the WP Ontario 1357 shou mixed with morel mushrooms and it is divine. The 1357 is silky smooth and the morels make it mellow – and bonus! When you’re done steeping you can eat the little bits of morel out of the gaiwan.
Do any of you break up the whole cake/brick at once or do you leave them whole? I can see how breaking them up could be more convenient.
depends honestly.
tinning up a puerh can have a huge effect on flavor. if it’s a brick I usually break it all up so I don’t have to bother with that tight compression every time I want some tea.
Agreed I usually leave them whole. I may on occasion break off some to air out but usually they are kept whole to keep the cake aging properly.
Drank the 2007 Menghai Golden Needle White Lotus brick today. It was not very good and I wonder if it was a fake. I got it from Dragon Tea House. It had a strong bamboo taste to it, a flavor I have never gotten from a Dayi tea, ever. I was immediately suspicious of the plain wrapper on the inside of an expensive brick.
http://instagram.com/p/wHQdBXTDW7/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/wHRN1mzDb6/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/wHRS4dzDca/?modal=true
Dragon Tea House has refunded my money. I did not tell them I thought it fake, just that it was not up to Dayi quality and wasn’t very good, tasted of bamboo. No Dayi I have ever tasted has tasted of Bamboo.
2006 Essence of Tea Da Xue Shan Raw
Given their widespread reputation for high quality productions, several months ago I ordered twelve different samples from Essence of Tea. Today I decided to begin working my way through these samples. I am quite fond of material from Da Xue Shan (DXS). After several years of careful maturation (the cakes are pressed using lightly aged maocha), this particular collection of DXS leaves from ancient trees has developed into a fine tea.
Lightly compressed so that it is very easy to pick off beautiful whole leaves. Clear crisp tea liquor. Nice texture and body. Taste complexity; both fruit (dried dark fruits) and appealing sweetness found in the sip. Good mouthfeel (active and buzzing) that lasts. A welcome positive qi arrives quickly with energy that begins in the mouth and quickly spreads throughout the body.
Very good for about seven brews and then it goes rather flat. I am very glad to have a 20g sample to enjoy but given the combination of price and limited durability, I am unable to justify the purchase of a cake at this time (especially since I have ten additional EoT samples to try before placing an order).
boychik suggested i try here, but trying to identify 2 cakes that a work friend sent me from China. Her english isn’t the greatest so all i know is that one of them is her “every day tea” and the other isn’t :)
http://instagram.com/p/wH61uPEyCj/
http://instagram.com/p/wH6wplEyCE/
Happy to open them and take other pics if it helps heh she was so excited to learn that i drink puerh – none of the other folks that traveled there for work drank tea, let alone puerh!
I suggest you join Teachat and try posting to their Puerh section. I have found translation help there myself. Usually it says right on the label what tea it is and you just need someone who reads Chinese.
First one says Nan Nuo Cha— from a Guang zhou company— in red
Second is a Jing Mai— same company Guang zhou Ke Teng Information Technology Company.
It’s been ages since I’ve had a pu’erh. I usually wait for a day when I’m at home to appreciate a few infusions from it. I was anxious to try this one that Yang-chu recommended: 2014 yr Supreme Yunnan MengHai LangHe 7599 Pu’erh from Goshopstreet Tea Store. I only got a sample size but I’m surprised how fast it arrived.
It does have strong cocoa notes and is very smooth. I started drinking on infusion #5 (10, 10, 15, 20, 25). It has almost a silky feel in the mouth going down. I am on infusion #6 and would have more of this but I know I’m probably done for the day since I can’t have too much caffeine.If I wasn’t so much a sheng and lighter tea lover, I would probably order a full cake of this right now. The price is amazing for the quality of this tea.
Apt was the one who posted a link to this tea. Thanks Apt and Yang-chu! Here’s the link again:
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