Menghai Tea Factory(from berylleb ebay)

This sheng was so powerful I had to spread the steeping across two days both times. It’s also in an awkward stage. Kind of a musty-sour aroma early on that turns to an enjoyable bitter-sour-sweet and somewhat smoky smell. There’s an acidic-metallic drying tinge in the mouth that builds and slowly subsides. This character is somewhat balanced by a complex activity in the mouth, moderate camphor and spiciness, a strong returning sweetness quick to show (first steep) and a lingering buttery caramel-floral plum aftertaste that rises in the sinuses. Bitterness isn’t too strong but it does seem to spread into every crevice. Tannic feeling in a horseshoe around the back and sides of the tongue. This tea seems dry stored to me.

It does have plenty of kick in the mouth, gut and body. A full stomach is a requirement for me. The energy feels like it pushes outward throughout my whole body, and along with a perceived growth in size, I slow down. Very much a body load tea and high in caffeine/stimulating compounds. This tea still needs time. The rough-and-tumble adolescence will probably age into a pleasant tea eventually.

A few things to note. Leaf’s in good shape but still pretty green. The rinse liquid and drips from each infusion remained clear into the next day and this liquid turned a dark and cool wooden brown.

Thankee mrmopar :)

This tea was released in 2011 but was made from older mao cha. This tea packs quite a wallop. It’s strong. It’s sour. It’s bitter. It’s astringent. It tastes like a young sheng. Strong scent of camphor and tannic astringency. It has fairly strong qi for me. An unexpected flavor note that I noticed in the first few infusions was clove, and it was very obvious and not subtle. I guess one never really knows how a raw will age, but this one has a lot of strength to be pressed 8 years ago and to be made with older material. I could see this one turning into a hit years from now. Wheweee. This one has me spinning…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGNiXGX2nLU

:-)

This is a lovely PuErh. It is very smooth, very dark, earthy, dry liquor with a very strong mouth watering feel, it has a nice thick body to it as well. I washed this one twice, both times the wash was dark in color, a bit dusty. As usual I went heavy handed on the tea lol;) The tea is almost black, there is no bitterness or astringency, it has a very classic PuErh profile, earthy, clay, forest and smooth thick, velvety body. I am on brew 4 after 2 washes and its still dark and rich. Its starting to open up into something more creamy, toasted, nutty. I think ill be going into tomorrow with this one:) it just keeps giving.

Wet leaf smells like wet autumn leaves.
Tastes: sweet and sour, moss, wet wood. Mild/mellow with lingering taste in mouth.

Thank you mrmopar – glad to try this!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BGfhprxjR3F/

86/100

Price: 100g £7.66 ($11.98) from Dragon Tea House.

7g in Gaiwan.

Dry: Dark brown; medium compression, slightly fishy.
Wet: Creamy, slightly fishy, chocolatey, electrical smoke.

5s – Med brown. Good body, soft bitterness on the swallow, woody.
10s – Dark brown. Strong, complex body. The flavour profile is woody body with a creamy, slightly fishy, sweet finish that lingers. This is excellent tea in terms of body and finish.
The only negatives are that the wood flavours can carry a bit of funk. i.e. Sometimes they don’t seem to fit.

This tea brews well when brewed for longer to give a darker flavour.

This is an appealing Dayi Factory shu blend with a nice amount of age on it. Smooth taste with no perceivable trace of bitterness. Decent richness and flavor found in the taste. My only criticism is that the leaf becomes rather thin by the seventh infusion but then again “cooked” leaf never has as much to give as raw leaf, does it. I actually think I might try using a little extra leaf next time. Thick and tasty dark soup that brings great enjoyment. In my opinion, this is a Dayi shu worth owning.

This is only my 4th shou experience. I am getting better at enjoying this style. This one is lighter in flavour in my opinion which is a very good thing for this newbie. Great way to start out with. Towards the middle steeps I started tasting honey notes. Baby steps but I do think I could really start enjoying ripe puerh.

Got a sample of this tea from a friend and enjoyed it very much!

It was a sweet one with dark dried fruit flavors. It has a certain powdery quality that I find hard to describe. Quite enjoyable shou :)

This shou looks clean, smells clean, brews a clean deep ruby-red soup with an earthy aroma that is warm and rich. The ripened tea produces the characteristic Menghai ripe cup with no lingering trace of fermentation. Gradually, the prominent earthy/woodsy notes transition into a gentle bittersweet that is simply delightful offering a smooth, thick, slippery mouthfeel and a satisfying lightly sweet aftertaste.

I got this one in on an order today. Just don’t tell anyone I added it in.
Most of the time I let them acclimate in the “pumidor” for a week or two before I get into them. As I really like the shou version of this from the same year I said let’s toss it in the Gaiwan and give it a whirl.
I got about 11 grams to start with and a very quick wash to start out.
First brew very light aroma . Some decent color but it still showed its young age. The first cup was very mild with only the lightest notes of grass , slight smokiness and a bit of drying. The mouthfeel was ok but I think the rest let a bit to be desired. This may have happened since I brewed it right away after the wash. I usually tend to let them open up with the moisture for about 10 to 30 mins.
I let it sit, almost an hour and I am back at it.
Now with a little time and 5 second steeps it is coming out a bit. The color hasn’t really darkened. The smokiness has been enhanced a bit. It carries a bit of floral but only a touch. The drying astringency on the middle and back of the tongue more pronounced.
Final notes. Still young. leaf looks nice albeit chopped a bit. Should be better with a little age or time to acclimate to my conditions. I guess if I was sealed in a plastic bag in a box and tossed on a plane and shipped for about 3 weeks I would be a bit bruised and not ready to open up myself.

I had this one today along with the 2009 version. I have to say, this one really fell flat compared to the 2009 version. Same steeping paramters, same timing etc…and the other version just gave more and had me finishing each cup whereas this one more ofetn than not, i was like…meh. next cup pls. :)

Apparently i picked this one up a long time ago in a galaxy far far away….i’m starting to go through all my puerh to see if i still love them. I need t sit with this one again in the near future but so far i am still enjoying it…just not sure if it’s still as high on my list as before. I’ll keep the rating for now until i get another day to play with this one.

I’ve been sipping on this puerh for a while today – figured it would help me stay awake and give me a chance to drink through a number of steepings. This was sent to me by Boychik a long while ago, but i haven’t had a chance to get to it yet. That’s the other reason i figured i should spend some time with puerh for this month’s overnight.

I generally did about 30 second steeps with this one and with the occasional longer steep. I don’t recall much beyond my initial surprise at the first steep of this. It was incredibly smooth and sweet…i couldn’t place the sweetness but it reminded me of some sort of fruit. On the whole, it was a really enjoyable experience.

A pretty good morning cuppa. Medium body, decent flavor. A bit dry, as in like a dry red wine, with some mouth puckering astringency. Not very earthy, simple and straightforward.

Very smooth and rich. Another great Menghai ripe! Not very complex, but very satisfying.

Thank you Mrmopar for this Puerh Sample I’m backlogging for a reason.
Here is the beginning of the review of this tea, but the rest of the review can be found on my new blog www.teaandincense.com so please take a look!

Any corrections or suggestions, let me know. I’m a rookie! The music is my granddaughter Megan’s that she wrote when she was 16.

I chose this 2010 High Mountain Charm Pu Erh because of soft earthy floral quality, and smoothness. I was looking for the best tea to pair with my trip to the Scottish Games in Estes Park, Colorado.

Pu Erh is a wild tea in my opinion, and there is nothing tame about a Shu! Something about Shu says Men in Kilts, Pipers, Whiskey, Laughter…and friendship all around (at least it says that to me)!
On the ‘Cameron’ side of my family, joking and golf, singing and laughter (always more golf), bagpipes, the fiddle and dancing are who we were. (We still try to live up to the old ways.)
Grandpa Charlie made bathtub beer during prohibition in San Francisco. His Uncles and Great Grandpa Duncan would drink beer and Whiskey. Jack would play the fiddle, Alan the pipes, Duncan told jokes in Gaelic and all sang loudly half the night. My mother (only about 6) would sit hiding under the dining table listening with glee, laughing with them and understanding not a word.

tried this tea thursday for the first time. got it in the mail wednesday opened to let it air out. reading up on it this is a super premium pu-erh cake. my merchant helped me out with this one by giving some information on it when i asked about the cost. i was assured of the quality. first aroma like a piece of bark in a woody forest. hit it with 195 water for about 15 seconds and tossed the water out. covered it with the top of the yixing to keep the heat and remaining tea in the pot. let this go for about 45 seconds.hit it with the water again and watched the leaves unfold. gave it 20 second and off we go. this tea brewed darn in the pot. the shu aroma was gone replaced by a hint of apple and cocoa. wow! what was this! took a sip and the fruit and floral hit me. very smooth no hints of bitterness. another one to move towards the top. i ended up with 4 steepings over 2 days with this tea. i will be going for number 5 today. i believe this tea will give about 6 for me , but only because i like a strong cup. now i am off to buy a 2007 version of this one to try and compare the two.

Thank you mrmopar for this sample Pu-erh tea!

Fall is in the air. Soon (real soon) the tree branches will begin turning color in a way that I never experienced living in Northern California (only sunny or rainy seasons there).
When the wind flutters the golden leaves of the Aspens you can almost hear them sing. And the radiance at this altitude is amazing!
We have funny shaped clouds. (I remember seeing clouds like this flying over the Andes long ago on my way to Peru) Strange shaped discs like the ‘flying saucers’ people seem to see now and then glimmering in the sunlight. I like them. http://youtu.be/vnyqLc8m41A
This is a youtube sample of clouds and here is a photo I took at Tahoe (I think it looks like a monster…it lasted all day without moving!) http://flic.kr/p/cVLomU
If I were telling tall tales I would make up a story about Angels skipping stones in the sky.

I was drinking this Pu-erh today, and at one point in the sipping, there was a flavor that reminded me of sprouts from the days when sprouts were all the rage in salads and whole grain sandwiches. Organic green bushy bundles like moss. I like watching moss on rocks in a stream…watching water pass over it…pulling at the fronds like wisps of hair.

Pu-erh is especially comforting in the Fall and Winter months. The organic smell and feel of it makes me wish I could be at the tea farm surrounded with lots of bark and furry scent.

I steeped this Pu-er 30 seconds each steep and the liquor was honey brown only on the first steep, then became dark coffee brown on later steepings.
Oh do I love to push my nose into the Gaiwan and smell the wet leaves! (It makes me happy!)
First the leaves were like steaming warm toast! Later, the wet leaves were sourdough baked bread and last an almost cocoa baked bread.

I’ve never likened a tea to drinking wet hot towels but…hum…this is what came to mind. The flavor was barely savory and later on a lightbulb went off in my head and I said, “Alfalfa sprouts!” (Which is where all the previous blubberings came from about moss and all).

The second steeping was pure satin, very smooth and sweet. I couldn’t figure out what the fruity flavor was and sat for a time sipping and rolling the tea around in my mouth.
Burgundy black cherry with a peppery finish. That’s what I got.

My last steeping was smooth, sweet with a dryness on the top of my tongue which wasn’t present previously.
The flavor of the tea was like an unsalted water cracker. Really.
No earthiness at this point. Just a bit savory.

There’s rain in the forecast.
Cooking with tea is fun! Here’s what I did with this Pu-erh…
For dinner I made a 5 Spice chicken with some of this Pu-erh and Tamari Soy Sauce (I sprinkled a little extra ginger and Ponzu on also… and baked it in the oven slowly for an hour. Meanwhile…I made some curried veggies. I steamed rice with chicken broth and a little Pu-erh, added a few smoked peppercorns and a little butter. All three dishes were perfect.
Sweet Spicy Chicken, Curried hot Veggies, Creamy, Buttery Rice (not sticky)just perfectly fluffy and rich.

Another lovely Pu from mrmopar…thank you!

Another session with this one yixing style. Even richer a small touch of bitter quickly followed by the sweetness this pu gives. A top Menghai tea well worth the price for a pu lover. This tea keeps aging gracefully

good tea with a very good cha. very smooth to be a 2010 cake earthy and floral notes. also good for multiple infusions.