2011 Mengku Organic Arbor King Raw

Oopsie, I posted my note in the wrong place the first time….

I’ve been enjoying my sample of this :)

It is a sweet, floral sheng, which is right up my alley. Sorry I didn’t have time to write a more detailed note, but this is definitely one I would drink again! Work was nuts today…the energy from this sheng has been much appreciated.

I am relatively new to pu-erh to take this rating with a grain of salt. Per advice from other Steepster members, I used 175 degree water for this young sheng. I also didn’t follow normal pu-erh technique, but used 3 grams in 3 oz water.

(15 s, no rinse): Floral aroma. Taste is a mix of straw and flowers. Quite sweet. 2nd (30 s): Very rich flavor is straw, with hints of earth and flowers. Somewhat sweet. Lovely nose; powerful finish. 3rd (30 s): The aroma is now more fruity than floral. Also, more powerful. The taste is mostly straw but is becoming somewhat bitter at the finish. making the strong finish more of a negative than an asset. Good cha qi. 4th (45 s): nose is fruity AND floral. Taste and finish are weaker than before but still potent; also less cha qi. The tea has a lot of body, but not a whole lot of flavor. Long finish. 5th (60 s): Good mouth-feel and some cha qi, but the flavors aren’t terribly interesting any more.

Overall impression: This reminded me of certain green teas of a grassy/straw flavor, but much more powerful and complex. I much prefer this to those teas, which has already started me wondering how I will use up those green teas if I start buying young sheng.

The cake is quite nice to look at – lightly compressed and nice full leaves with several lighter yellow-tan leaves mixed in. A few twigs and stems discovered when cake is picked apart. A little creamy with sweet mushroom flavor which I rather enjoy. Pleasantly smooth and silky mouthfeel. A fairly light puerh which I wanted today and rather enjoy. Nice leaves. Dark yellow brew – a golden. Nice huigan. The tiniest bit of mintiness creeps out from behind the more dominant flavors. Enough chaqi to warm and tingle the body a bit. A good cake to own!