2014 Ai Lao Mountain Wild Arbor Pu-erh Tea Cake (sheng)

Final destination on the taste tour through Yunnan. What a treat it’s been!

Region 4/4: Puer/Simao. Location 3/3: Ai Lao

NOTES ON TEA
Not bad for its price point. It is a light, fruity, and sweet raw at its present age. Has much in common with a Dragonwell green tea experience. However, the flavors can get a bit thin at times. I found myself pushing it quite early on (3rd infusion) in order to maintain body and flavor.

Overall, it is very refreshing – nice floral and fruity sweetness, with a bit of honey notes. Minerality and hints of smoke prevent it from becoming too sweet and boring. Some citrus notes pop up that help to awaken the palate and make everything interesting again.
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Dry leaf: sweet, citrus (almost like an orange candy), fresh grass, floral. In preheated vessel – some sweet prune and raisin notes come forward

Smell: not much in the nose – some light grassy and hay notes, some mildly sweet vegetal notes, some dried apricot.

Taste: honey, light floral sweetness, light citrus, a sort of Turkish Delight vibe, fresh grass, dried apricot. At times has a development very similar to a green tea, with a finish that is reminiscent of a white tea. Something like a rocky minerality is present, but is in the background. Light citrus and lemongrass notes in aftertaste, also honey in background. Some smokiness (campfire – not unpleasant) wafts in and out when brewed harder. The smokiness is almost less of a flavor and more of a vehicle for some added body and sweetness.

NOTES ON REGION
Can’t really pin this one down. There are no common flavors that the three teas shared. The Wu Liang was very smoky and vegetal, the Jing Gu sweet and foresty, and the Ai Lao light and fruity. Overall, I can simply say that I feel like this region gives you some good return for your money. The Wu Liang, despite its ashiness, had the vegetal strength that the Menghai area teas had. The Jing Gu gave a great old arbor depth of experience. The Ai Lao, despite its lightness, was sweet and enjoyable. All are at a fraction of comparable teas.

It is a region worth exploring. It seems to offer something for everyone, and at a bargain.

This tea starts off with a nice, medium-thick mouthfeel and no bitterness. Flavor-wise it is sweet grass, with notes of stone fruits, sugarcane, honey and nuts. The grassy/nuttiness is somewhat similar to a Longjing green tea, which I like.

High-elevation and older tree material come together and make a tasty tea that is also very affordable. Above all, this tea tastes very “pure” to me, and the qi is quite perky and leaves me feeling really good afterwards. I think this would be an excellent candidate for a daily-drinker.

GCTTB V1

So, this is my last tea from the box apart from the three or four things I took out to try at a later date. I had a great time with this box! Even though not everything was a success, I still got to try eighteen different teas. As it stands, I really look forward to swapping the box with Lala for the second one, and continuing the fun exploration!

FIVE SECOND RINSE
- Strong, sweet aroma
- Overwhelmingly fruity: apricots!
>5 SECOND INFUSION
- Smells very stonefruit-y w. smoky notes
- Light, soft sweet stonefruit notes (apricot)
- Fragrant and green
- A hint of mustyness on the finish
- Very smooth
FIVE SECOND INFUSION
- Has a sort of “dank” sweet/apricot aroma
- Liquor is a yellow-y green; darked than infusion one
- Little bit of a green/“under ripe” sourness?
- Still quite fruity and sweet
- Honeysuckle notes
SEVEN SECOND INFUSION
- Bit more of a vegetal/brothy flavour
- Some mineral like notes
- A mix of peachy and apricot notes
- Coats the mouth
SEVEN SECOND INFUSION:
- Leaf has a “fruit leather”/dried fruit aroma
- Definitely more “body”
- Coats my mouth, specifically the sides of my tongue
- Very strong stonefruit notes
- Peachy finish and strong vegetal aftertaste
- Still kind of vegetal/green
- Liquor has settled into a clear, golden yellow
TEN SECOND INFUSION:
- Rich, sweet stonefruit
- Like an apricot/peach puree
- Thicker mouthfeel
- LONG lasting aftertaste
TWELVE SECOND INFUSION:
- Definitely a strong stonefruit flavour
- Almost has a bit of a “from concentrate” vibe
- So sweet, it almost gives off a “sticky sweetness”
- Robust top notes
- A vegetal undertone
FIFTEEN SECOND INFUSION:
- Definitely flavour deterioration
- A more muted fruit (apricot) flavour
- And a shifted focus on vegetal notes
TWENTY SECOND INFUSION:
- Definitely a weaker/more watery flavour
- Still fruity/vegetal
- Sadly this ends the session because it’s four and I have plans…

I feel like it’s worth pointing out that this is a Sheng Pu’erh which is definitely NOT my typically preferred when it comes to Sheng and Shou. However, this session was really, REALLY delightful! I don’t actually own a full cake of anything currently because I’m definitely still in the “exploring my tastes” phase of Pu exploration but this is I think maybe the first Sheng I’ve tried where I’ve actually felt like I’d drink a full cake worth of it. It was a really phenomenal way to end of the tea box with as well!

another decent tea:

when i smell the leaves dry, i smell mustyness and green.

when i smell the leaves wet, i smell green and honey.

when i smell the brewed tea, i smell honey.

when i taste the brewed tea i taste honey, spices and sweetness

the liquid is a light gold to a light amber color.

i rate this tea a 75 because ive had better sheng puerh.

many thanks to liquidproust for this decent tea :)

This is rather nice sheng as it isn’t bitter at the first steep which I am so use to with shengs now. The aroma, look, and taste is all right there in regards to what I look for in my sheng now. I think it just misses that smooth finish when it comes to the mouth feel.

Cake is very compact and is filled with fuzzy buds that are more stout than those from other regions. The dried leaf smells very sweet and the brewed leaf has a refreshing scent that reminds me of high quality Japanese sencha. It brews a golden hue that is somewhat cloudy. The tea is gently sweet with notes of crisp spring greens, plums, flowers, rock candy, and sweet wine. It has a very pleasant, flowery, and uplifting huigan (aftertaste) that lasts for at least 5 mins.

I actually prefer this tea to its 2014 Wuliang counterpart, which I find overwhelmingly sweet without that uplifting sensation of this tea.

This tea is good. While I am more of a ripe puerh drinker I do drink the sheng some of the time. This one had very little bitterness, only a touch in the first two steeps. Throughout eight steeps it had notes of apricots and stonefruits. This is the sort of sheng that I want when I drink sheng. It has not aged much of course having a light yellow colored tea soup. This also means it has not had a chance to develop any of the unpleasant aged flavors that sheng sometimes develops so I suppose there is a good side to it. At only $30 this tea is a bargain. If I had a bigger pumidor I would consider a tong for aging. I enjoyed this tea.

I brewed this tea eight times in a 170ml teapot with 10g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it a 10sec rinse and then let the leaves sit for ten minutes. (I didn’t have the patients to let them sit for an hour). I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. This tea was not finished at eight steeps, it would certainly have gone twelve or more.

Breaking this one out after teaching the "Chairman " to fetch a bit. Now if I can just get her to bring it all the way back.
Kind of like my progression a bit at a time.
I did this a few nights ago but I am starting new tonight. I got 10 grams out and put in the Yixing. I gave a very quick rinse and allowed it to set a while. I did a very quick steep with about 10 oz. of hot water. Very nice aroma and a pretty clear yellow brew. It give a very quick hit of slight bitter that goes away quickly. The sweet , vegetal and floral brew quickly pushes it out.
This carries a sweetness that would think you had put a touch of sugar in it. It gives a nice buzz and tingle about halfway through the cup. It has a little punch and a bit of the bitter pops back in or a second or two.
Nice and warming with a bit of “Liveliness” to it. Some butter notes in here as well.