2008 Mr. Feng's 'Selected Trees'

Very calm and balanced tea tastewise, but with a strong, underlying Qi.
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2008-mr-feng-selected-trees-eot

This is a sample I took from the puerh TTB. I used 7.8g in a 120mL gaiwan with boiling water. The dry leaf smelled smokey and a little leathery. Once rinsed, I got more smokey and peaty notes with hints of fruit. I also smelled a menthol aroma in there, but this never translated to the flavor of the tea for me.

The first three steeps were smoky and peaty…not in a totally off-putting way, but it wasn’t particularly good. Slightly sweet as well with some fruitiness and leather. Second steep saw a bit of bitterness enter the mix. If I had to pick one word to describe these early steeps, it would be “abrasive.” Just the texture mixed with the flavors was a little bit rough to my senses.

Over the next couple steeps, the smokiness dissipated a bit, becoming a more palatable woody note, still with light fruit notes in the background – plum or prune I’d say. The smoky peaty flavor is still there, but more in the background.

Steeps 6-10 were probably the best of the bunch. The sixth actually got a bit of a nice creamy texture going with some sweet fruitiness, though still retaining a bit of a rough edge. The next three were progressively smoother with sweet wood and fruity notes.

I gave it a couple more steeps at the end. These ones were back to being kind of rough, smoky…not too fabulous. The leaves were pretty chopped up – I don’t know if it was just my sample or the nature of this tea normally, so I’m not surprised it didn’t go any further.

I would guess this is a tea which needs more age on it. Steeps 7-10 seemed like they were a bit of a sneak preview into how this tea might taste in a further aged state. As it is right now, just too smokey and rough for me to enjoy a great deal.

“You can know a man by the trees he selects,” said nobody ever.

My primary impression of Mr. Feng is that he is a man who enjoys a well-aged scotch. The robust, thick liquor that the tea produces is smoky, and the flavor lasts a long, LONG time. It will punish you if you oversteep, much as you might be punished (though more belatedly) if you don’t exercise prudence with your scotch.

Other reviewers have noted that they feel this will become better with more age, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s a rare case where I feel justified in stating that with several more years of quality storage, this will likely become a treasure.

As it stands now, it just tells us that Mr Feng likes his trees to be in it for the long haul.

Long overdue PU TTB review obligation.

The first two steeps are absolutely lovely. Leather, camphor, hint of menthol. You find yourself amazed at how much of a mellow aged flavor is present for a tea so relatively young, but then by the third steep, the bitterness comes out of nowhere, punches you in the face, steals your wallet, and leaves you on the ground in a dark alley thinking “I should have waited another ten years.”

This was a very interesting tea. I enjoy most of this company’s offering, and the ones I don’t still add up as an unique experience. This cake comes out and is dark and shows its age very well. I can see the tips are bronzed and the leaves have muddled; however, I can still place some dark forest green. The bing gives off a powerful eucalyptus and menthol aroma with the classic wood and leather aged scent. I warmed up my gaiwan and placed a chunk inside. The cake did not differ or expand in scents, for it only grew in depth. The warmed tea gave off a deeper leather and menthol aroma with the tang of tobacco in the background. I washed the leaves and prepared for brewing. The taste begins sweet and oily. A nice sugarcane and stone-fruit taste washed over my taste-buds. I can note some astringency lingering in the background. The brew still carries a green punch, but it is subdued by a drifting huigan. The taste becomes sharper and filled with wooded tastes and some light fruitiness in later steeping. The drink gives my mouth quite a dry feeling. The qi is pretty solid and really gets me moving; I can note a nice warming and rushing sensation filter throughout my body. This tea is pretty good, except there isn’t much complexity. I believe that this tea shouldn’t be drunk just yet. I think in a few more years it can develop into something truly worthwhile.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC71u7xzGZe/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Another overdue review from Puerh TTB #4

I wish I hadn’t waited so long. This is just the type of tea I enjoy: lots of different flavors vying for attention. First steep (10s) was very rich for a first steep. Powerful apricot flavor with a hint of earthiness underneath the fruit. Very good mouth-feel, depth, and finish. I probably should have waited for the second steep, as the finish from steep 1 was still very strong in my mouth. But I didn’t. Second steep had a strong nose with hints of wood. The wood is more obvious in the flavor, along with a lot of smoke. Builds in the mouth to a huge finish. This is not for the timid! I’m also feeling the cha qi in my chest and shoulders, though not so much mentally, which is how it usually affects me. As the cup cools, the apricot comes forward and the smoke and wood recede a bit, though are still present. The cha qi has now reached my head and I’ll need to take a break after drinking 4 ounces. Powerful tea in multiple ways. After about 10 minutes, the finish was barely noticeable, and the qi had faded enough for another cup.

Around the 8th steep, it became very sweet. Taste is more like corn than apricot with some wood underneath. Less powerful, but no less pleasant or interesting.

Thanks very much to Essence of Tea, who donated the samples for the tea box.

2008 Mr Feng’s ‘Selected Trees’ – Essence Of Tea

Price: £0.60 / g £15 for 25 g.

Dry: Med brown with some grey leaves. Med compression. Sweet wood, but they all seem to smell like that from my Essence Of Tea order so far.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-eooW_IDm4t1_lbZJ-c5K88mkOKdGCG5VdII00

Wet: Concentrated herbal, quite smoky, dark fruit. Yiwu-style sweetness.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-epRahoDoKgmvYbGroSiAJSbzjA0zoiq_JeXk0
https://www.instagram.com/p/-ezvKLIDsw7AscJCWkNlzAeNPb3NbcJNRKyAk0

8 grams in Gaiwan.

Summary: Power house of bitterness, but of high quality material. Full flavour in the mouth unlike the Mengku 2007 Mu Ye Chun light flavour. Gives good energy. This tea does not have a lot of character, and for a 2008 tea it has incredibly strong bitterness, something which surprisingly is not mentioned in the description.

Rinse: Very clear, light golden.

10s – Light golden. Sweet. Very clear tasting. Mild bitterness. I feel like a cool breeze has gone down my throat. Very mild flavours though. Bit like a Yiwu.

15s – Med golden. Strong bitterness and tart sweetness with some smoke. The after-taste is dry bitterness. This reminds me of Pu-erh.sk’s 2014 Naka. It is a youthful, bitter sheng of quality material.

5s – Light golden. Very bitter and energetic. Smoke is clearing slightly. Consistency is thick just as the description says.

10s – Light golden. This tea has a solid body, which is like a rainbow of bitterness.

7s – The bitterness is softening.

The bitterness can be tasted minutes after drinking.