Mangnuo Tengtiao Cane Tea Sheng Pu-erh from Ancient Tea Tree 2014 First Spring

Thank you, Wymm Tea, for this sample! I saved it for a late night Gongfu session with hubby and we finally got that opportunity tonight!

The first sheng I gave hubby was from an unknown company, and he pronounced it “not his favorite.” A few weeks ago I gave him a Wymm sheng and he liked it, so I thought he would enjoy this, too, and I was right,

The first steeps were kept short, and the tea was surprisingly smooth and sweet for a fairly young sheng. Something about the flavor begged to be paired with something, so I fetched the box of Pierre Marcolini chocolates that my daughter bought for me when she was traveling and had a couple of those. They are very fancy – I believe some of them have flecks of actual, real gold. Yes, gold. The flavors are unusual and the chocolate intense. Good stuff, and a great pairing with the tea for the middle steeps.

One steep apparently sat longer than I realized and when I took a sip….WOW. It was strong! Then I realized that though it was oversteeped and had a bit of astringency, that faded really fast into a minty, camphor freshness that I actually loved!

This is grassy, but also has a nice sweetness like honey rather than sugar. This translates to a nice, round bottom note to the tea for me. After almost a liter of water, which is cooling appreciably now, hubby has departed for bed and I am drinking alone. One last steep, and I will save the leaves for tomorrow elevenses.

Very good sheng. It will be an interesting one to experience as it matures.

Finally getting to try this Wymm tea sample today. I don’t want to try new teas unless I have time to really sit and savor them properly, and since I’ve been office working the past 2 weeks that hasn’t been really possible!

Thanks to Wymm tea for sending me a sample of this to try. For a young sheng, it is definitely on the sweeter side and less bitter than most. There is a bit of bitterness in the finish but that is kept at bay by doing some nice short steeps.

This sheng has a lot of really lovely flavors. It is more reminiscent of a green tea than many shengs I’ve tried. There is a definite vegetal note with some sweet peas and floral. I am also getting the custard-y and buttery notes up front but it’s the bitterness that lingers a bit in the back of your throat. It has a lot of relaxing energy as opposed to a kick-your-butt kind of experience.

By the third steep I decided to use slightly cooler water which brought out more of the buttery notes in this tea. It has a very enjoyable flavor, but sadly is quite out of my price range at the moment.

Thanks to Wymm Tea for this sample :)

Okay, I love it. I might not be perfect with my puerh steeping and my palette isn’t trained to taste all the notes beyond the “sheng” taste, but this is calming tea with a nice thickness and sweetness. Of course, I’m using a makeshift setup since I don’t have a gaiwan or equivalent vessel, so I have a regular strainer inside a cup because if I put it in a teapot, the water doesn’t really cover the leaves enough to get a good steep! sigh

I steeped in 185 degree water (100ml) for 5,5,5,10, then increments of 5, then increments of 10 after 30 seconds.

Thank you Wymm Tea, for the samples!

Being a cat, curiosity is my forte and patience is not in the least a strength of mine, so naturally I had to go for the crown jewel of this sampler pack first. Wymm Tea’s website says the Mangnuo Cane Tea Sheng is their signature tea. I didn’t read much of Wymm’s description so that I can get into this with an open mind and unbiased palate.

The dry leaves in a warm gaiwan smell of open fields of grass. There’s a slight smell of farm pasture as well. There are subtle hints of citrus trees and flowers.

After a rinse of the leaves, the scent reminds me quite a bit of orange blossoms, with plenty of green vegetation to accompany.

I like to taste the rinse on Sheng Puer to get a good idea of what is coming. I can usually detect some of the more subtle notes here that may get covered up in later infusions by the stronger flavor. The scent of the rinse liquor is something surreal. I can’t quite describe it, it’s so new to me. This is one of the things I love about tea. I’m always experiencing new tastes and aromas I have never experienced before. The best way I can describe this scent is as a very sweet, clean smell, perhaps reminiscent of dew on flowers. There’s still a bit of an orange blossom fragrance, or maybe even an orange custard kind of scent. Taking a sip, the flavor is incredibly smooth, very milky in texture and somewhat in flavor as well. The taste is surprisingly less vegetal than I expected, and what lingers on my tongue is a nice cooling hui-gan and a subtle orange blossom flavor. This tea is subtly sweet in the cleanest of ways.

After the first infusion, the leaves still have a fruit flower smell. There’s a lot of “outdoors” aroma, but very clean and very intoxicating. It doesn’t smell at all like an earthy outdoor smell like the dry leaves did. This is a spring breeze before a thunderstorm.

When I think of ancient tree Puer, a lot of ideas come to mind. I imagine robust aged flavors of mineral, leaves and wood. What I get from this tea though really spins that idea around. I’m greeted with such pristine subtlety that I feel I’m being greeted by the aromas and flavors of centuries ago, before industrial practices reshaped the world and polluted the environment. The cleanliness in this tea’s taste makes me feel like every breathe of air I’ve ever taken or piece of food I’ve ever put in my mouth has never been pure and untainted like it would have been in the old world. As dramatic as it sounds, this tea is providing an experience that is inducing a lot of profound thought for me (in this case, about the past and what the world was like centuries ago), something I value highly in a tea.

The flavor of the first infusion still reminds me of orange blossoms somewhat, with a bit of a peppery taste beside it. It’s still very clean and paired with rich sweetness. I can’t believe this is a 2014 tea cake considering how smooth it is.

By the third infusion, I’m getting more orange blossom flavor, but also more buttery and sweet. I should clarify that when I say orange blossom flavor, I don’t mean bitter or biting, I mean it has a wonderful citrus-and-spice kind of floral aroma that comes through in the flavor as well. I’ve had a tea before with orange blossoms added into it that was very bitter. This is not like that. I’m thinking more along the lines of orange blossom water, which is also rather strong and perfumed, but when used in small amounts has a nice subtle citrus-floral scent.

This tea is not what I’d call a complex tea. That is, the layers of flavor are rather straightforward and do not change drastically from one infusion to the next. There’s something to be said for a good, reliable tea that has a solid presence though. I find it very comforting, when that presence is such a compelling one as this. The energy of this tea is calming and subtle, airy and freeing. This doesn’t feel overly warm and invigorating. It is a cooling tea to me.

By the fourth infusion, there’s a bit more bitterness creeping forth and a more buttery, vegetal flavor to pair with the floral.

Fifth infusion, the bitterness is still present, but not strong. All the flavors present before have become more well-rounded and equal.

By the seventh infusion, a cucumber flavor is coming through.

Later infusions fluctuated between bitter and sweet. I would love to see how this tea will age.

I’m going to have to give this tea the perfect 100 score, because when a tea “takes me away” and really lifts me out of the present environment and thoughts I’m in, or gives me some profound reaction, I feel blessed and honored to be having the experience. I’m nearing 200 tea reviews right now and have only given about 7 other teas this perfect rating.

WYMM Tea means “Wei Yu Mang Mang”. It means “pureness and whiteness without boundary”. I read this on their website. I feel that from this tea. Thank you for letting me experience this.

Thank you Wymm Tea for sending me your samples.

This tea is really delicious. The first few infusions were a little bit bitter, but not in a bad way. Then the tea turned really sweet. Not really floral, but reminded me of floral. Definitely that kind of hay flavor though.

I really enjoyed this one.

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Thank you so much Wymm Tea for this sample.

This sheng tastes like springtime! Heady, buttery floral dominates, with a honey sweetness, balanced out by a pleasant bitterness. There is a little hay/straw flavor that reminds me of a white tea.

It has plenty of flavor and complexity without the punchy agressiveness some young sheng seem to have.

VERY tasty. Something I would drink again :)

I decided to do the full mystery box thing this evening, and just chose a packet at random. This was the one that came up. Funny, because if I had selected one to try, this is probably what I would have selected. Fate?

I can understand the reference to cane (sugar?) though I would call the dominant flavor straw. There is a pleasant sweetness riding on top of the straw, which reminds me of sugar cane. As the cup cooled, the flavors became stronger, and more woody. The nose is very light, almost non-existent, though if I strain I can detect a bit of grapefruit. The flavor isn’t powerful, but is sufficient. It feels very full in the mouth but with an acidity that I found refreshing. Good, very long finish. As the tea cooled, it seemed to become more powerful, although that may be an interaction with the finish. I would say the flavor is interesting, but not complex.

There is a powerful cha qi, which is just perfect for sitting around on a Saturday night. The combination of the cha qi and the long finish encourages me to just sit and enjoy the experience.

I am breaking this out, the third of four samples that Wymm.
I have brewed all of the samples from them in a neutral glass vessel. I think this is the best way to get a handle to the “essence” of the tea on your first tasting.
I gave a really quick rinse to this one just to wake it a bit. It has a nice green tea and musky aroma to it. The sips are warm, grassy and buttery with the honey sweetness coming through . It has a slight touch of bitter that dwells for a second goes and drifts back in as well. What has really impressed me is the sweet of this seems to dance about a while after drinking it. This has no smoke at all in it. I would say it has been processed with pride. I have had 8 good infusions so far and i will keep going as long as I can with this one. I am up to 20 second steeps and still getting some goodness.

This tea promises honey and it certainly delivers it! I find some sheng incredibly complex where you can list off a dozen different notes. This isn’t especially complex, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly yummy. There’s some hay/straw (are they the same thing?) hiding in there but mostly I’m just getting sweetness. There’s a bit of bitterness that comes and goes, but for the most part it’s entirely pleasant. Though I’m getting to the point where I appreciate a bit of a bite (within reason). It counteracts the sweet aspect well.

Also, I love the cute mystery wrapping. https://instagram.com/p/zvffQCRWFJ/?modal=true You get four of these in the pack and get to pick one at random. I guess it’s not incredibly convenient if you’re looking for a specific tea, but I love the surprise factor. I’m very excited to try the rest of the teas. I’ve been slacking as I got a ton of teas at the same time last week on top of the pu-erh TTB. But these are definitely at the top of the list.

this was one of my teas from yesterday – a generous sample from Wymm tea that came wrapped in paper. This was a a nice sheng…full of honey and creamy notes, with only a hint of bittnerness on the back end. Unlike some sheng’s that i’ve had, it didn’t turn in to a bitter mess that i didn’t want to drink (i’m still learning!) haha later steeps had more hay notes to it but they were still smooth and slightly sweet. I may have a few more infusions of this today if i get time.

thanks so much for sharing these teas with us Wymm!