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My sample arrived with leaves largely intact with a fresh sweet scent. Brewed leaves have a musky floral sent, kind of like raw crystalized honey. The tea soup is a clear pale yellow.

I found this tea to be much more subtle and gentle than expected. It has those characteristic Mengku florals, nuttiness, bitters, and pungency, but more subdued that the 2015 YS Da Hu Sai, for example. It’s very pure and refreshing, nicely thick, and quite active in the mouth and throat—I got tingly and numbing rather than creamy.

This will probably improve in a few years, I think. Floral notes here are more savory than sweet. Fantastic energy in here as well. I’ve learned that Mengku-like teas have a cha qi that, for me, are more cerebral than other regions. This is very pleasant to drink now, but I think waiting 3-5 years will give this tea the time it needs to reveal its potential.

Perhaps the most notable features of this tea are the visual appeal of the tea soup, velvety texture, and the smooth creaminess. It’s not super infusable—maybe no more than 7 steeps, but still very enjoyable in terms of mouthfeel and subtle flavors. This one is particularly soothing during those cold winter nights. The tea soup is a very clear and a beautiful deep burgundy.

I’ve decided to stop ‘rating’ teas with numbers since they mean nothing to anyone but me. It’s hard to review teas during periods of irregular weather. This one is no exception. It was only after trying this tea 4 times using both a gaiwan and yixing over a week after it arrived was I able to pick out its true character.

Dried leaves smell like sweet grass while wet leaves are floral and musky. They are largely intact, veiny, large, and very green. Initial steeps are straight up bitterness with some hints of high floral notes, and vegetal notes of grilled asparagus and raw brussel sprouts. This is a powerful tea. Strong energy up front that eventually calms down going into the 5th brew. Nice mouth feel, superb huigan, and very persistent aftertaste. It’s obvious this will age into something interesting.

In mid-steeps, the bitterness while still there gradually is replaced by thick sweetness—the brown sugar type. The tea remains thick, textured, sweet-medicinal and vegetal until it finally gives out—by then I’ve lost count of steeps. This of course varies according to your brewing parameters.

Lovely tea! Dried leaf: intact, attractive shapes, and are easily pried off the cake with a lovely floral fragrance. Wet leaves have a delicate wild flower aroma and are of a respectable olive green, nice and veiny. I normally taste the wash of teas I’ve been anticipating to try out.

The initial steeps have an upfront floral sweetness, cooling, tingly sensations, and almost spicy/nutty notes of raw/roasted brussel sprouts. Honestly, if there was a liquified form of honeysuckle it would taste like this. That kind of delicate but prominent floral note comes more to the fore as the tea soup thickens. The body on this is just wonderful and consistent through later steeps. It has a very pleasurable mouthfeel. There is strong cha qi that spreads to my core rather than to my head. Tea buzz sneaks in on the 3rd or so steep. Mid to later steeps are consistently honeysuckle-floral, wild flower honey, thick/velvety, and tingly/cooling, with that good kind of bitterness I look for in pu’er.

I’ve tried this with my gaiwan and yixing. The sweetness seems to be somewhat enhanced with the yixing, but not by much. The honeysuckle and vegetal notes are more obvious when using the gaiwan. The tea remains active in the mouth for a while after drinking. I can’t get enough of that mouthfeel and tingly sensation! I ended up purchasing two cakes.

Dark dried leaves are largely intact and spindly. I placed 7 grams in a 100 ml gaiwan and allowed the leaves steeped after the rinse to sit for a few mins. Steeped leaves are highly fragrant—ripe grapes and star fruit. Initial steeps are very fruity and rose-y (like rose hips). That robust purple pu’er tea astringency is almost absent in the medley of sweet flavors. It remains a delicate tea with an almost decadent mouth feel and gentle, but very present, cha qi. While this one is much softer and approachable than the Dehong purple tea, I actually prefer the latter for its sharper notes.

Edit: Having tried this several times, I figured out why I prefer the Dehong purple over this one. I actually dislike that unique (kind of herbal) flavor present in all purple pu’er. This flavor seems to stand out more in the Wuliang due to the lack of sharp bitterness that is present in the Dehong. While tasty in its own right, and despite my positive review, I’m not a fan of this tea.

I’ve had several sessions of this tea and I found it quite different from the 2013 version. This one has a more subdued energy that builds up through the steeps. It has typical Mang Fei taste profile of sugar cane, tobacco, bitter melon, and a hint of all spice. My favorite attribute of this tea is its varied sweet notes of raw cane sugar, caramel, and molasses. It has a pleasant mouth feel, persistent aftertaste, and consistent energy. I would recommend this tea to those looking for a less aggressive Mang Fei.

This is a gentleman’s sheng. It has a rugged pungency and robust bitter, nutty, and tobacco-like flavors. Mid steeps are more herbal and bittersweet. It’s a very comfortable tea. I imagine myself sipping on this on a cold evening in front of a fireplace. It’s highly infuseable and has consistent energy that only fades at after the 13th or so steep. The leaves are quite large and thick. Very distinctive!

Letting this one air out for a few weeks in between sessions has definitely allowed its unique attributes shine through. The brewed leaves have a wonderful caramelized brown sugar sweet aroma. Since then it has grown on me.

With 7 grams in a 100g gaiwan, it’s quite complex in its flavors, textures, and sensations. It has excellent body, mouth feel, and expansive huigan with a cooling and almost numbing sensation. Prominent flavors are minty, sweet tobacco, complex woody notes, bitter melon, and roasted brown sugar. Smoke is almost absent and completely disappears after initial steeps. Sweet flowery notes dominate the first two steeps. Steeps 4 to 10 or so are characterized by straight up bitterness with sweet and savory accents.

After that it coasts with for seemingly endless smooth, mellow, and savory sweet steeps. Impressive consistent energy that doesn’t cause drowsiness or upset the stomach. The tea soup is a clear and deep golden hue.

I’ve had several sessions with this tea using a gaiwan. Dried leaves are in tact, varied shades of green, and have a subtle sweet apricot fragrance similar to the 2015 YS Qing Mei Shan. When brewed, the leaves release aromas of flowers, edamame, and grilled asparagus.

This is an atypical sheng. It doesn’t have any upfront strong sweetness or cha qi. Instead, I was greeted with tangy, vegetal, and savory flavors. I picked up notes of mustard greens, raw brussel sprouts, edamame, and wild flowers. It’s definitely the greenest sheng I’ve had in recent memory. It’s quite pure and clean tasting with no smoky or earthy notes. Sweeter flowery notes and a comfortable buzz sinks in after the 5th or so steep. This tea is very infuseable. I ended up purchasing a second cake to see how it ages.

Based on sessions with the good ol’ yixing, I noticed an increase in body and sweetness. Whether using a gaiwan or yixing, this tea is refreshing, has a nice mouth feel, and a persistent tangy flowery aftertaste.

I’m learning a lot from those who have left insightful comments! I cannot stress how important it is to “air out” or “rest” one’s new tea before trying it. Then, and maybe relatively less important, allowing the brewed leaves to rest again for a min or two after the first rinse. Here is a great example:

I opened this sample over a week ago and wasn’t terribly impressed. The flavors were more woody, or hay-like, more astringent than bitter, and it had a one-note kind of sweetness that left me a bit bored.

It has been chill’n out in a ziplock bag for over a week. Recently, I’ve experienced surprising changes in flavors and textures from teas that I’ve let rest for at least a week. So, I gave this one another shot:

I placed a 6 gram chunk (no tea dust) of the sample in my 100 ml gaiwan. I let the leaves rest for a few minutes after the first rinse, allowing the leaves to open at their own pace. I was rewarded with something completely unexpected. The the tea liquor came out a very clear and bright pale gold. Much better compared to the first session which was more opaque. The dried leaves smelled of sweet grapefruit, apricots, and orchids.

The each infusion is very pure tasting and unexpectedly fruity with a very pleasant bitterness in the background that gradually increased in later steeps. Very nice huigan, mouth feel (kougan), and fruity aftertaste that resulted from the bitterness. This continued past the 7th steep. This tea reminded me of a Lao Man’E (dare I say!) I tried back in Beijing.

One bonus was the tea blossom I found in the brewed leaves. :)