2018 Changtai Wild Menghai

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Astringent, Bitter, Bitter Melon, Blueberry, Butter, Caramel, Custard, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Green, Green Wood, Herbs, Honey, Marshmallow, Melon, Metallic, Plum, Smoke, Sour, Sweet, Tannin, Vegetal, Walnut, Wood
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by mrmopar
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 g 4 oz / 110 ml

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  • ““Trip to Changtai, vol. 1” I asked the mechanic friend to pick a card, any card. He drew the youngest Changtai tea in my stash. Dry leaf has lots of bitter woodsmoke overlaying sour plum and...” Read full tasting note

From Changtai Tea Factory

2018 Changtai production made with outstanding wild material from the Menghai region. Changtai have stepped their game up for 2018, and the cake features a QR-code sticker and even a full pesticide report inside the wrapper. No pesticides were detected, which further supports Changtai’s claim that this material is wild and uncultivated.

The cake smells smokey and also very enticing: wild material often has much more depth and intensity to the aroma and flavor than plantation material, and this is no exception.

The first cup of tea I brewed had the unmistakable aroma of wild tea. If you haven’t had wild pu erh tea before, this would be a very interesting experience! The tea has lovely and deep sweetness, long lasting huigan. The terroir is definitely Menghai.

About Changtai Tea Factory View company

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1 Tasting Note

1557 tasting notes

“Trip to Changtai, vol. 1”

I asked the mechanic friend to pick a card, any card. He drew the youngest Changtai tea in my stash.

Dry leaf has lots of bitter woodsmoke overlaying sour plum and smoked flowers with a slight custard undertone. Warm leaf: woodsmoke, vegetal-buttery-caramel, sour plum. Rinsed leaf: smokey-sour, aged wood, floral and pungent

First steep starts off interesting with a very fluffy, rich, sticky sweetness (caramel-honey-overripe melon-marshmallow) that clings to every crevice in my mouth. Then whoosh, second steep brings massive greenwoody body. Green bitterness comes out as I swallow and it lingers. The sweetness is like sticky spiderwebs. The liquor is slightly coating and moderately drying. Smokeysweet aroma. Floral, light caramel, hint of blueberry perfume in mouth exhales through nose. Somewhat metallic in the aftertaste.

Third steep, mechanic friend says “witch hazel.” Fourth, the wet leaf smells very pungent and fruity. The bitterness dies down a bit. Fifth, sweetness is only available on the sip and somewhat in the retronasal aftertaste. Taste is general green astringency and bitterness. Some slight mouth cooling but overall body warming. Returning sweetness finally makes a meek presence. Sixth becomes very metallic in character. My gut’s a’gurgling so I’ll call it quits.

For a wild tea, this tastes very different from the others I’ve tried and I wonder if it’s due to processing methods. The sweetness gives me an Yiwu vibe, not Menghai, though a walnut-sour plum impression does draw me back toward Menghai. I’m only postulating since I don’t have a ton of experience but this seems like the kind of young sheng that would benefit from aggressive, humid storage. It is one of the greenest sheng I’ve ever had.

Addendum: I think the sweetness might actually be embodied as jujube but I haven’t eaten them enough to be sure.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Bitter Melon, Blueberry, Butter, Caramel, Custard, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Green, Green Wood, Herbs, Honey, Marshmallow, Melon, Metallic, Plum, Smoke, Sour, Sweet, Tannin, Vegetal, Walnut, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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