A continuation of last night’s pot of 2006 Mengku Rongshi Da Xie Shan from Yunnan Craft. I have an order on the way from them for the first time in 4 years, so figured I’d dip back into their selection.
Tastes like the sheng puerh version of the region’s red teas. Kind of a blond tobacco taste with notes of elderflower, honey, elderberry, raisins, mugwort. Slightly buttery, honeyed and light with sweet smoke at first then becomes more fruity midtoned sparkling and cooling. Cool sweetness in back of mouth. Bitterness is light but if pushed hard, can overtake the tip of the tongue while numbing it. Some steeps can be astringent on my tonsils, others can be rather alkaline, and others oily-colloidal or thin and juicy. Smoke comes out again later with more of a raisiny taste.
The dark shades of the dry leaf cloak the range of green still present in the wet leaf, which sometimes greets with butterscotch when lifting the lid for the next pour from the kettle.
My body swells subtle with wild feel energy. A better afternoon session than evening as the caffeine effects are gentle yet persistent.
It’s a generally friendly sheng with some age that I wouldn’t hesitate to gift or serve. It is sold out at Yunnan Craft. They claim there were 2 batches made, and this tea received Kunming storage . The cake available at King Tea Mall doesn’t state which batch, and it has received Guangzhou storage.
Flavors: Astringent, Bittersweet, Butter, Butterscotch, Cooling, Elderberry, Elderflower, Fruity, Hay, Herbal, Herbs, Honey, Juicy, Menthol, Nuts, Oily, Smoke, Sweet, Warm Grass, Tobacco
