2003 CNNP "Mengsong Qiao Mu Iron Cake" Raw Pu'erh

Quick Notes
I ordered this one such a long time ago, that I thought I had already posted my notes on it. I had written down notes twice and twice forgot to put them up! I tried this one in a porcelain coated Yixing Gaiwan and in a 150ml Yixing Pot. I’d recommend using a Yixing Pot for this one since it mellows down some of the stronger wood notes(If you have a pot for wetter stored cakes).

Dry – Woody, faint sweetness with some floral bitterness.
Wet- Wood, Dried roots, tart fruity notes and some honey sweetness.
Liquor – Bronze

1st 15secs – It has a robust, somewhat pungent woody/dried roots taste with some hints of bitter floral hints. As it goes down it is a bit smoother with some faint sweetness appearing, but maintains its woody bitterness and later develops camphor that linger a bit.

2nd 10secs – Robust woody and dried root taste with now bittersweet floral notes up front. As it goes down it is smoother but again maintains its stronger wood notes that to me somewhat resemble dried Shiitake mushrooms in a clear soup. The aftertaste develops with some camphor and much later a weak floral sweetness.

3rd 12secs – Robust woody and dried root taste with bittersweet floral notes up front. As it goes down it is smoother but maintains its woody and dried root notes. The broth is slowly cleaning with each steep but it still feels somewhat harsh. The after taste has some camphor and very slowly develops a weak sweet floral taste.

4th 14secs – Slightly cleaner than before but still robust wood and dried roots taste with bittersweet floral notes. As is goes down it feels smoother and the wood notes are not as harsh but still very apparent. The aftertaste has some camphor and slowly develops a sweet floral finish but again is somewhat weak.

Final Notes
I was able to get around 8-9 steeps from this one. The wood/dried root notes seem to come from the wetter storage but are not unpleasant, in fact to me the initial taste resembles older dried stored Puerh, but I feel like the wetter storage takes a toll on its Hui Gan. The aftertaste gives good camphor but lacks in the sweetness. It almost teases me into thinking it will continue to develop but stays weak.

It is a great wetter stored Puerh (I’d give it 90/100 in terms of Puerh in wetter storage), but compared to most Puerh its and OK one.

If you have some time check my blog
http://thetinmycup.blogspot.com/

Free sample from my last YS order.

Today I woke myself up at six in the morning, packed my gear into the car, and drove out about fourty five minutes northwest to Clermont, which is sort of the Mecca of longboarders and cyclists in Central/South Florida. While most of Florida south of Gainesville is pretty darn flat, Clermont and the surrounding areas have big, rolling hills a bit like Kentucky, but well… bigger. The fastest I’d ever gone before was about 30 mph, today I made it up to 45, and man that felt great.

I spent most of the day riding down said hills and then walking back up them, which is, as far as I’m concerned, what they do up in heaven (When they’re not drinking tea, of course.) By noon I was completely exhausted and pretty much swimming in my own sweat. So, I headed back towards Orlando and (after a nice cold shower) decided to wind down with a nice session of tea, and was especially craving some sheng :)

This is just the second “fairly old” sheng that I’ve tried, and I really enjoyed both. Even with two quick rinses, the taste started out pretty mulchy and musty, but by the third steep it was much cleaner and delicious. Raisin, clove, and walnut were the main flavors I picked up on. A bit of bitter, but not enough to be off-putting. Despite it’s flavors not really being “fresh” ones, it still has the refreshing qualities of younger sheng. I got lot’s of relaxing, stimulating feelings drinking this, and by the time the leaves puttered out I was about as tea drunk as I’ve ever been.

Between the endorphins from exercise and the qi from this tea I’m feeling pretty darn good right now. I’ll probably make something for dinner and then head to bed early. Today was a pretty great day (albeit slightly hermitic), and exactly what I needed in a weekend.

Fresh from the sample package, the dry leaves had a slight earthy/woody and very mild fruity aroma, which also came through the first few steeps. The flavor of these steeps had a slight honey sweetness, very mild fruit and floral character, and was a bit sour and astringent. The mouthfeel was clean, a little viscous, and dry after swallowing.

Middle steeps were more astringent, with mellow sourness (mostly on the sides of the tongue), light honey sweetness, moderately viscous, and had a slight cooling affect, mostly in the throat.

Later steeps had pretty mild flavors, with moderate astringency and bitterness, more dry, and left an acidic sensation on the top of the tongue.

Overall, I would describe this tea as bright. Not really sweet, but bright and dry. It was pleasant to drink, and a good tea, with a decent balance of the noted flavors. Nothing was too forward, and even the acidic and astringent characters were enjoyable. The cha qi, for me, was very relaxing and meditative. I don’t think I could drink this tea daily, because of the lasting acidic character, but I do like it.

The wet leaves were light red/brown and had some dull green left in them. Brewed gongfu style from 15-60 seconds.

i was finally told what the wet storage tastes like.

rancid and/or shrimpy fishy.

i don’t mind shrimpy/fishy taste but the rancid? yet to be experienced

this cake has little to no wet storage taste :/ just earthy/fermentation

After rinse there is a somewhat pleasant aged aroma. there are some hints of rubber in there.
I found some decent aged notes in some of the brews, though by and large, its not something that I feel like drinking much of, and has this cooked artichoke water somewhat bitter flavor that is not too exiting. Maybe its my (filtered) tap water, who knows.