Menghai Tea Factory (berylleb on ebay)

finishing up my last clump of this – some good stuff. once again, washed 2x, as first wash barely seemed to take any of the tea with it. 2nd steeping now, same procedure as before (glass gaiwan, just before boiling, 15 secs, plus 10 each new steep) and still enjoying. debating whether to get more or just try another one.

i have had this one for a while, just waiting to be opened…well, this is the day! er, actually i’m anticipating the week. brewed in a gaiwan, water just at boiling, 2 brief washes, then first steep at 10…15…20…30 seconds before the stuff looked like anything much! that first steeping smelled amazing, tasted like nada. second steeping, i’m on now, took only the amount of time to fill the gaiwan then pour the tea into my cup – POW this is much better. smooth rich loamy mushroom, cool even while hot. i look forward to another couple of days out of this, i suspect.

not the greatest tea out there, but definitely a keeper.

This is thought of as a high-level ripe product from Dayi but I am underwhelmed by this particular harvest. It is a smooth drinking shou but I find the flavor profile quite boring. I do not see how it could mature into more flavor after more aging so I am unable to recommend it. Cakes using this formula from other years are much better.

This is a rich, smooth and mellow tea and this premium shou does not disappoint. Easy to drink; smooth and mellow; full of flavor. The cake presents very dark leaves – on the smaller side; fairly tight compression. Double rinse and then multiple steeps yielding a perfectly clear dark reddish brown tea liquor. The flavor sits densely in the middle of the mouth, radiating sweetness and hints of tangy leather and dark chocolate. The tea never seems to get bitter even when pushed, and is consistently giving me the same quality right from the start to the end. Very much enjoyed my session with this tea and I am left alert, my lips buzzing.

Farewell delicious sample. This is a puerh that i would gladly pick up again when i’m buying tea. By that time i’m sure it’ll be a bajillion dollars, but that’s ok. A few samples are off to friends who haven’t yet tried it but i’m going to enjoy an all day session with this one to eek out the last of it’s deliciousness.

this has been my afternoon puerh for the day. I still have a mountain of puerh that i need to drink up as well as share with omg and dex and terri, so I should get cracking on that. this is smooth and delicious. so good.

sipping on this one today while i do some house work. I may have one more session left once i break down samples for Dexter and omgsrsly but then i’ll consider picking up a cake of this one once i get through more of my cupboard. It really is an enjoyably smooth shou.

i pulled this one out to enjoy throughout the day today. I don’t feel like writing complex notes on it, but needless to say, i’m super glad that boychik shared this one with me so i was able to purchase some for myself. This ie one that i’ll be sharing with dexter and a few others because it’s lovely. And then…i save for a cake! :)

mmmmmm boychik sent this one my way and ive been saving it for a day when i could drink it all day long! :) Rather than take a long series of notes on this, i wanted to just sit and enjoy it. Overall impressions – this is a fantastic puerh! I highly recommend it to anyone wanting a great journey.

this was a bold, strong tea to begin with and lasted for maaaaaaany maaaany steeps. Initial steeps were sort of earthy but also sweet and smooth. i picked up leathery notes and what i guess i would call sort of citrusy? i think i’m going to have to track this one down and pick up a cake. thank you so much boychik. I’ve really loved some of these fantastic offerings you sent my way!

A very light and refreshing shu. It resembles cola. Nothing special, but pretty good.

Ahhhhh…..pure Dayi ripe goodness. Need I say more?

I reviewed this tea a while back. My old review is below. I think I got a bad sample because it was bad. It was a strange experience at that time. My body told me ‘no way’ and to immediately instructed me to throw it in the garbage. But when the TTB box had a sample of this tea in it, I decided to give it another try since so many people seemed to love it. So I tried it today, and this time around, I found it to be one of the best Dayi ripes I have tasted. It is sweet and deeply fruity. I really loved the first few steeps. I got quite hopped up, so this is a good one if you are looking for caffeine. Later steeps were not quite as smooth, more bitterness came through. Then, it turned into that yeasty bread dough flavor. This is a great tea, and at around $40, it is one of the few semi-aged Dayi teas that are reasonably priced. I guess this particular tea does not have a hype factor built in. Both Berryleb and Dragon Tea House sell it.

OLD REVIEW
So I gave this try due to Allan’s very positive review. I found that it was not for me. It is kind of mushroomy, which I personally don’t care for. Otherwise it was earthy and deep. Very strong caffeine and cha qi, probably the highest kick factor I’ve ever experienced from a ripe pu erh.

This tea made me so so so so so so so so so SO happy. Of happiness.

Only one rinse was needed and the color is deeper than ruby, like a garnet. And AllanK was right – zero fermentation flavor, no dirty flavors. This tastes like chocolate mushrooms. That may not sound appetizing, but I assure you, it’s the fucking BOMB, yo.

This is my new fave shou. Thanks for the sample, Allan!!!!

I did one session with three steeps, then another, then another. A total of 9 steeps, which got smoother as they went along.

From the start, I felt buzzy. At one point during the 2nd session, I realized that I dazed out. When I came to, I felt kind of dizzy and happy. Tea drunk, indeed!

I also kept staring into the cup, kind of mesmerized by the color.

To sum up: WOW. So yumz. Much happy. Wow. So garnet. Tea drunkies.

http://instagram.com/p/soFo2-vkcf/

This tea has cleared. It has virtually no fermentation flavor left. It is among the very best of Puerhs. There is a slight, very slight bitterness in the early infusions. This soon goes away and you are left with a smooth ripe puerh with a little bit of natural sweetness. There are a plethora of flavor notes to this tea. I detected chocolate, and I am not sure if it was because I added a small amount of sugar, but I also detected caramel.

I steeped this 10 times in a 130ml Yixing teapot. I used 4.5g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, 1 min, 2 min. Berylleb King Tea has done an excellent job with the storage of this puerh. I am considering buying a second so I have one for future years.

This is a nice basic ripe puerh. It has a nice somewhat sweet flavor with not off taste and still some fermentation flavor left. I didn’t give this the full gongfu route. I steeped it twice in a 10 oz mug for 15 sec at boiling. It is good.

I thoroughly enjoy this tea. I bought a cake a couple years ago and went through it pretty fast. From what I remember it is a light shou, not too dark or earthy but with a light finish and uplifting energy. It is aptly named “Clouds”. My most memorable experience with this tea is that I brought it in a tea thermos during the birth of my first child. I went through several steppings as we waited nearly 11 hours from the time we got to the hospital until her birth. I ordered another cake and will likely keep it for storage until I can share it with my daughter and tell her that this is the same tea your dad was drinking on the day you were born. Obviously, this is a special tea for me.

For me, this is a tea that changes dramatically depending on the vessel it is served in. I’m not a big fan of this tea in the traditional small tea cups. The flavor is deep and rich with not a lot of complexity when served in this manner. I’d give it a 64. However, when served in a standard american mug the flavor improves dramatically! A sweetness comes out to complement the richness of the tea. Dark, rich and sweet this tea is one of my favorites when I am on the go, such as in the car or at a seminar when I can do gong fu. I’ll still brew it using a yixing or chinese tea pot and combine 2 steepings in the mug. In this manner I’ll give it a 90. Not bad from one of the traditional Dayi recipes.

7g 180ml gaiwan 212F
rinse twice/pause/ 10/10/15/15/15/20/20/30/45/45sec
This shou is very pleasant. Sweet woody creamy with some wine notes. The brew is dark burgundy color, so pretty. Its mellow, no off putting smell or taste. very nice and relaxing. first couple steeps numbed my tongue.

It has been months since I first tried this shu sample from boychik, but I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and remembering it as one of the best shu puerhs I’ve ever had. I only have a couple of servings left but I had to have some today to see if it is as good as I remember it…and also to ask if ANYONE knows how I can get more of this cake? I’ve searched online and I guess it is sold out. Sadness!

I know there will always be new puerhs to try and fall in love with though, maybe someday ones even better than this one.

I am only on steep #1 right now but it is all velvety smoothness and cocoa richness…ahhhhh :)

WOWIE! This is good shu! Thank you boychik! I can’t believe how many amazing teas you sent me.

This shu is great. So smooth and creamy. I haven’t the words to describe it, but it is very enjoyable. Not very earthy and definitely not a trace of “dirty” flavor here. Very balanced.