Menghai Fuhai Tea Factory

Classic robust Menghai area ripe taste. Vanilla, dark chocolate, caramel, cream, dough, wood, like you would expect from a Dayi. But also a bit of a funkier note that’s a bit reminiscent of a forest floor, not sure if that’s from fermentation or from ageing.
Good body and lasts well enough. Not outstanding, but a good value offering.

My other review of this is under one of the Yunnan sourcing entries.

It’s been a while since I had a tea quite like this. I’ve been drinking a lot of black teas and herbal teas, trying to get through my stash. But uhh, I have a LOT of puerh I need to drink.

This one, uhh, tastes wet. Yeah I know, tea is wet. But it gives the impression of leaf mulch. The damp understory of a forest. That kind of wet.

But it has body. A little tannin. Some sweetness.

Not what I’m used to drinking these days, but a nice change.

Got this tea a while ago along with a order from Yunnan sourcing, was able to try this a couple of times because of the generous sample sizes, I believe it was around 25g or so. I felt it would be a good tea to try as I have not had many lightly fermented shou pu’erh and I definitely don’t regret trying this one.

I knew it would have more of a raw taste and less of the wo dui as its not as fermented and it also has a bit of age to it. The tea brewed up nice and dark and a bit thick, it smelled like most other pu’erh but after the first sip I picked up a really pleasant sour/bitter taste which seemed to linger around for quite a while. It also had some really nice sweetness which is something I really enjoy in a pu’erh, I was also able to get a good amount of steeps from this tea. I would definitely recommend this tea for anything that might be looking for a different tasting shou pu’erh

This is a tasty, slightly bittersweet tasting ripe tea. Despite being from 2006 there is still some fermentation flavor there. Not a lot but it is noticeable in the early steeps. I am not picking up a lot of complex notes but this is a shou good to drink now. Hopefully it will improve with a couple more years of aging. Mine was obtained from Yunnan Sourcing in one of their sales.

I steeped this ten times in a 150ml gaiwan with 10.4g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. There were certainly a few more steeps to this tea but I rarely want more than ten steeps of any tea.

Sixth and final steep is going to be extra-long.

Fifth steep still has good body

Steeped two, three, and four times.

I am hoping that this will be a delicious start to the week!

Just kidding, I took them to work and am letting them sit in hot water for a while. (13)

After this twelfth steep, I think I am going to lay these leaves to rest, permanently. It was a good tea that served me well.

After an overnight rest, these leaves are going for their eleventh steep.

I really am curious how long this will last. (Steep 10)

After a brief rest, I steeped a ninth cup at home.

Eight times…why am I still at work…

Seven steeps and going strong. I think that I used more tea than usual.

Sixxxx!

Steep five and still alive.

Two more steeps!

Steep 2!

Steeping at work. The filtered water cooler has an awesome heated water function that helps excellently in making tea.

Leftover tea, the morning after.

Canton Tea Co’s 2006 Fu Hai 7576 is a cooked pu’erh that arrived in cake form. The dry leaves smell delectably loamy and full of forest-y scents. After rinsing the leaves, I perform the first thirty-second infusion. This first infusion impresses greatly. Quite smooth with just a tad of subtle roughness. The leaves are just beginning to release their flavors. The second thirty-second infusion loses the rough edge but remains much the same, flavor-wise.

Infusion number three, same guidelines, gains a more full body. The wood tones are rich and smooth. The fourth infusion is much the same. After eight infusions, the flavors slowly begin to give out. This tea was an amazing experience to drink. On my personal enjoyment scale, I rate it a 93/100.