2004 Shi Kun Mu’s Menghai Gushu Raw
Shi Kun Mu is a tea trader/blender/master from Taiwan and I was very curious about the 2004 ShiKunMu productions (Yiwu, YiBang, Manzhuan, Menghai). When my Menghai and YiBang cakes arrived over 18 months ago, they seemed a bit dry so I stuck them away to freshen up a bit. They have been in my humidity monitored tea cabinets and they now seem ready to taste. The Menghai cake is rather enjoyable – overall a tea of rich flavor and mouth feel. Reported to be spring ancient arbor material, the leaf looks good and the dark golden tea liquor is very clean. Sweet aroma lingers in the cup. Early steeps offer an earthy mushroom flavor which lightens and becomes sweeter in the next cups. The flavor includes a bit of rather delicate astringency in 3rd and later infusions but this makes the tea a little more interesting and complex in my opinion. Camphor and menthol appear off and on. Reasonable amount of Qi builds up through the session. Decent endurance – I’ve enjoyed eight cups and the tea has more to give. My mouth continues to water from the tea session which ended an hour ago.
Excellent review.
i agree
Weeping at the thought of having a humidity monitored cabinet! How wonderful!
Humidity monitored cabinet should be easy. Just buy a hygrometer for $10 to measure humidity!
ashmanra – I have two free standing cabinets in my dining room – one for sheng and one for shu. I use multiple hygrometers and water glasses to monitor and control the humidity. Nothing fancy but it works for me.
That’s more or less my setup!
I have this hygrometer. Less that $5 delivered. http://www.aliexpress.com/item/High-accuracy-LCD-Digital-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Electronic-Temperature-Humidity-Meter-HTC-2-Clock-Household-Indoor-Outdoor/32315726971.html?spm=2114.01020208.3.1.Wv93h7&ws_ab_test=searchweb201556_6,searchweb201644_2_79_78_77_82_80_62,searchweb201560_8