I couldn’t miss the chance to grab a full bing of this guy. It’s a high performer with its intense energy, clarity, mouthfeel, and complexity of flavors (Am I missing anything?). I was so impatient I could only let it settle in the pumidor for two weeks before I broke into it. The cake arrived slightly broken on the edges, providing just enough broken tea leaves for the session—about 6 grams. They had a suspiciously mid-aged scent of dried fruit and leather.
The tea soup has high clarity and a deep golden hue. Brewed leaves had a scent of tropical fruits and sandal wood. I entered the sheng pu realm from the north (Lincang) and so am just beginning to get my bearings on Menghai and Yiwu terrior. I do have one genuine 100 g Lao Man E cake that shares some of the notes of this cake. Here I found a medley of tropical fruits (sweet grapefruit in particular) along side lovely bitters that literally rings in the mouth. The tea has serious staying power and a nice sandalwood base. This tea doesn’t begin to taper off until steep 10 or so.
For me, the mouthfeel and qi are the wow factor. I was in the middle of a conversation while sipping on the 2nd steep and the word’s “oh wow” came out. The qi followed the mouthfeel. It can take you for a ride if you let it.
This is a good one.
Very nearly picked up a cake of this in my Black Friday order.