2007 Menghai Jade Luster Ripe

Thanks mrmopar for this Pu-erh sample!

A day at home with rain expected in the afternoon was the perfect setting for Pu-erh sipping with steeping multiple times.

As I made my preparations, I was suspended in a timeless space with the thrill, the drama of what was to happen next?

Basic Information
Steeping times: After a 30 second rinse, the steeping for the first 3 sessions was 30 seconds, the 4th was 1 minute.

The wet leaves smelled like sweet dark chocolate, then light leather with raisen and chocolate, then faint leather and sweet.

The color of the leaves changed at the end to dark Jade Green!

The color of the liquor was light brown on the first steeping becoming dark red brown on steeping 2 and 3, dark golden brown on steep 4.

Taste
The process of discovery was like a first date. The tea flirted a little, let me get just a hint of flavor to see if I’d respond. A bit of cedar, sweetness and some slight dryness on the tongue. Nothing to write home about but not scary either. Pretty smooth.
(The tea was obviously, holding back and waiting for the right moment to reveal it’s true personality.)

The second encounter was way more flirtatious, even sexy with a baked cedar plank dryness up front becoming smooth on the finish. There was another flavor lurking in the shadows, a secret.
Peach or Cocoa? I needed more time to inquire, to explore again.

The third encounter was not revealing. I sensed that something wasn’t right. The flavor was so much lighter. Wasn’t the water hot enough? Was the steeping too short? (I always blame myself, never the tea first!)

I decided to become bolder, demanding more now that we had spent considerable time together. I felt that we knew each other well enough. My instincts told me that if I pushed a little bit, there was great strength of character just under the surface.

I challenged the timing increasing it 3 fold.
The Pu-erh held steady without a flinch but it looked different.
The liquor had changed to golden brown and the leaves to jade green.

The flavor was supprisingly very mild, dry cedar, sweet, juicy and easy to drink.

Even with the mild dryness this was a smooth tea with no harshness.
I was expecting some sort of aggressive punch with the longer steep, but that’s not what this Pu-erh was about.

It was kind and mellow, sure to keep me happy for a long time.

(For any off-the-wall people who add sugar on occasion to pu-erh, well after the 4th steeping I checked it out and the caramel flavor that appears with sweetening is very nice!)

Sipping my first brew from my first pu’erh cake. No classes this afternoon, so I’m settling down with a good book and a kettle of water on the stove :)

Got this with a sample from Garret at Mandala. Went to purchase after tasting it has blown me away I think this will put me on a quest to have at least two of these cakes one for now and one for later! The complexities are hard to describe, it has put me to find more! I am very pleased with this cake. Smooth mellow rich aromas with no young shu odor,one of the best I have had a chance to try! I think this one gets a 100 rating for me. be sure to steep multiple times.

Brick

Appearance: woody black pu-erh chips off a larger brick
Aroma when Dry: sweet, nutty cocoa earthy, floral notes
After water is first poured: tart, sour, earthy,
At end of first steep: sour, peaty
Tea liquor:
At first?
At end of steep: hints of clay red
Staple? No
Preferred time of day: unsure
Taste:
At first?: bitter, metallic tang, earthy notes
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, metallic notes

another day….another puerh. :) This one comes from Boychik I chose this one to drink today, while i putter around the house getting ready for this afternoon’s meet up. Bonny is visiting here so a few of us are getting together this afternoon to hang out. :)

So far this has been a really smooth journey. This isn’t BOLD, in your face sort of puerh…it’s a mellow, soothing, relaxing sort of drink. more to come likely once i get home.

I believe Bonnie wrote the definitive tasting note on this one two years ago. As I was writing my own review for my blog I kept noticing how nearly identical my experience was to hers – minus the sexy dating analogy (wow, hot stuff). For me this was a necessary session to overcome yesterday’s over indulgences. Way over did it. This one helped calm the stomach and left me with a pleasant calming peace that was remarkable spiritual like. I have never thought to actually use puerh in my private devotion time but maybe I will give it a go one day soon. Anyway, starts mellow with mineral, cedar, and horse tack notes. Blossoms later with bold flavors of browned cedar and horse tack. Then drifts back into more mellow but pronounced mineral and cedar, and ending with pleasant leather notes. Excellent cha qi.