Dehong Mao Cha 2013

Thanks again, Garret, for the sample!

This mao cha has a heavy smell of smoke, or smoked meat. After a rinse there are some green vegetal notes coming through in the aroma and still a good amount of smokey smell.

The taste of the first infusion is a bit light, a bit of a tart fruit like flavor, reminds me of the smell of hedge apples or the taste of an underripe pear.

By the second infusion, the leaves have released some sweet citrus aromas and a bit of floral. This cup tastes more buttery and citrusy, and smells a little smokey still. As the tea cools there are hints of anise and pepper in the flavor.

The third infusion has a sort of alcohol taste in the aftertaste. I can’t decide if it’s like having a dry white wine or more like hops in a beer, but it’s one of those. There’s still a bit of smokiness as well.

The fourth infusion is a little creamy with wood notes and smoke.

Overall, this tea has a lot of changes from one infusion to the next. It isn’t really the type of flavor spectrum that I seek out, but it’s an interesting tea nonetheless. It seems like one that might age well.

As I understand it, mao cha is what a lot of people in China drink as day to day tea. Not the aged shengs, not the freshly compressed shous, but just basic mao cha. This tea helps me understand why. The leaves smell of steamed spinach, and the somewhat thin, slightly dry liquor has a gentle mushroom odor, but tastes more like a moderate green. It was good for several steeps in the gaiwan, but I’m sure a mugful of Western steep would go down good as a daily draft. I think I understand mao cha just a wee bit better now.

I enjoyed this sample for 2 days.
I love it. First of all id like to report that i brew sheng with boiling water. yes. its much better because it doesnt taste like mellow smooth green tea anymore. i dont want mellow green tea, i want something special, some punch. it wasnt bitter either because thats the tea or maybe my taste buds changed. either way im happy sheng drinker.
First several steeps were amazing. what would you say to potato chips flavor but without grease? sweet, slightly bitter, delicious. some slight tobacco. those flavors of chips and tobacco were very interesting and made me hungry. Burger would be the best but i had only chicken in my fridge. anyway its too late for after midnight snack. Time to go to bed before i get some other food cravings.

Been waiting to get this one in a cup for a while now. Pulled 8 grams out to brew this with leaving room for the leaf to have plenty of room to open up. Hit it with a flash rinse and opened the lid on the Gaiwan to inhale the aroma, steamed broccoli and butter came to mind in this.
I did 3 quick steeps and put thin them all in a big mug so I could have it all at once.
It has a little zest to it. Lingering tastes of smoke in the front and a nice touch of green veggies that turns to an almost sweet potato flavor on the end. A very active taste profile in this one for sure. Touches of the tingle on the tongue that fades into a light sweetness on this one.
Very nice product right on pace of the quality of the Wild Monk maocha. Very lively where the Monk does the fast dance the Dehong does the slow dance to an easy soft beat.