I'm reviewing two partly aged sheng pu'er versions from a Tea Mania set of samples I received awhile back. Many thanks to Peter, the owner, for sharing them for review! All their teas are exceptional, for the most part, so that drops out one potential concern, about whether I'll like them or not.
Farmerleaf is like that, to add a reference point for people who aren't familiar with them. Styles vary some; Farmerleaf is oriented more towards what that particular harvest year turns up in a local area, mostly in Jing Mai, but also beyond there, and Tea Mania uses limited input from a very reliable set of producers, from different areas.
In recent Reddit tea sub (group) posts two themes came up that relate to these, which I'll only touch on a little here. One is semi-aged tea, particularly relating to dry storage, and the other relates to brewing dragonballs. I didn't know where these were stored, when writing the notes, but the site listing usually includes that. It wasn't in a place as humid and warm as Bangkok or Malaysia, and probably somewhere in Yunnan, where conditions vary a good bit.
My input was that it can make a lot of sense to drink medium aged teas (in the roughly 10 year old range) when they are aged in dry conditions, changing very slowly. Note that people use the terms aged or semi-aged in different ways. For some aged sheng is 20 years old, period, so 15 years is semi-aged. Others would shift around those times. It really depends more on fermentation level, which ties to storage conditions input.
The same teas would push through a fermentation transition cycle fast where I am now, in Bangkok, losing the initial freshness and brightness over the first 3 to 4 years. That's great for teas that need to change a lot, like Xiaguan tuocha versions, since they're much further through the process at 15 years, and pretty much completely ready at 20. But for high quality sheng, versions that are approachable to begin with, it's not so ideal, unless you do actually drink the tea within that first 3 to 4 years. Or you can wait for another dozen for more complete change-over, with 15 years old being the low end threshold for mostly age transitioned, even in wetter (more humid) storage. This review covers more on that related to these two examples.
But let's start with the vendor listings:
Yibang Gushu Spring 2013 (120 CHF, $148, for a 200 gram cake)
For this Pu-erh cake, teamasters Panda and Yang Ming used tea leaves from up to 300 years old tea trees (Gushu) and processed them into 200g cakes. We were especially looking forward to this Pu-erh because we personelly like tea fromYibang. The tea trees in Yibang are very special. The tea leaves of the Yibang tea trees are noticable smaller in size and some of them turn under certain conditions purple.
Sichuan tea storage
Teamaster Panda was so kind and has left us some bing of this great tea. Since this tea was stored in Sichuan, the home of Panda, the riped very well. Sichuan is not as humid as Xishuangbanna but also not as dry as Kunming. In fact, it’s just the level we prefer.
Harvest: Spring 2013
Pressed: 2013
Taste: Fruity, a lot Cha Qi and a sweet aftertaste
Terroir: Yibang, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan province, China
Mengsong Dragon Balls ($62 for 80 grams, 10 8-gram balls)
My friend and mentor, Tea Master Panda, has once again dug up a rarity. Year after year Tea Master Panda has inspired us anew with fresh and well-known Pu-erh teas from the old tea mountains. But the lovers of stored teas were a little bit forgotten. For them we now have a well stored Mengsong Gushu from spring harvest 2014. Dragon Balls, Long Zhu in Chinese language, of 8g were made from the tea leaves in Yang Ming’s tea factory to offer the tea in small quantities or as a sample. The tea was stored in Xishuangbanna under natural conditions until 2020 and is already very ripe.
Harvest: Spring 2014
Pressed: 2014
Aroma: Mellow aroma, strong Cha Qi and fruity taste
Terroir: Mengsong, Xishuangbanna prefecture, Yunnan province, China
This same material is sold as 2014 gushu Mengsong cake, here, listing for $222 for a 357 gram cake.
Review:
Yibang: that's very nice. There's a really distinctive spice tone in this, in between sassafras and driftwood, or including those, and maybe some other range. It could seem a little fruity, but it's mostly that. Tones are warm, but this hasn't transitioned that much for being a dozen year old version. It must have stayed in a cooler and dryer place. Yunnan? I'll check the description at the end. Feel is nice, but it's too early for describing that just yet.
Later editing note: Peter (Tea Mania) is describing this storage as in between humid and dry, but my own baseline relates to where I live in Bangkok. Teas change fast here. I don't think that's ideal for all types for all aging levels, but it is perfect for moving things along, if that's the intention.
Mengsong: one of the challenges is going to be getting this to open up. There never will be a parallel to the infusion cycles. One positive about brewing dragonballs, which is mostly negative, as I see it, is that since the inner part starts to infuse over the first 4 rounds or so there is fresh, bright character being extracted across a lot of rounds, instead of it all transitioning over the first 3 to 5. But beyond that it's a hassle getting it to infuse, and you don't get as clear an impression of the tea character at different stages for that mixing together of parts of the infusion cycle.
It's too light for description just yet, but this tea is really good. There's a pretty good chance that I've tried it before; it seems familiar. It's bright, floral, sweet, and light, but even for all that you get a sense of great intensity and complexity setting in, and maybe even refinement. This tea version is probably worth the trouble of messing with dragonballs. But in talking to Peter in the past, the Tea Mania owner, they pressed dragonballs to use as sample references for teas, not to sell as those, so someone buying this version--if it's still available--might relate to the cake form.
Later edit: they sell both forms; that's convenient.
Yibang #2: that interesting spice range picked up. It includes medicinal herb spice as well, a general range that may or may not seem descriptive. I get a sense that there may be a spice related flavor I'm missing referencing, that something out there does match this. Or it's probably so complex that only a most distinctive range could match, and there would be more. This includes sassafras, and also something like ginseng, and some medicinal spice or even incense spice (sandalwood, maybe). Someone really dialed into this range would absolutely love it, and others might not like it.
Feel has a bit of body and dryness. I suppose that seems to connect with what I'd expect from bark spice flavor, and again the specifics within this range are pretty open to different interpretations. It wouldn't be unusual for someone to see that as connecting with warm mineral, or for others to miss that in a description list. Brewing it on the fast side, slightly faster than I have been, is probably optimum. Flavors are plenty intense, and as is typical for many warmer and mineral or mild earth oriented teas a lighter brewed intensity works better.
This certainly isn't "going dead" in terms of being in an in-between aging / fermentation transition phase, the awkward teen years theme people mention.
Mengsong: starting to infuse. Warmer tones pick up in this already. It's still fairly light and bright, especially for this age. Where it lands in the balance is fine. Bitterness has mostly evolved out of the flavor profile, as for the other, but I would have surely loved this at half this age, at higher intensity, with more bitterness, some extra astringency, and lighter flavor tones. It seems like it's going to be quite positive just now, so I don't mean that as criticism.
Flavors and feel don't always make sense at different ages and transition levels, but these both seem to. Maybe because it's not a bit further along, because the transition process was slower due to cooler and dryer storage? I'll add more on that in an intro at the editing phase.
A more flavor-list oriented description will probably make more sense next round.
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the fermentation level color difference is obvious, but the Mengsong does darken over rounds |
Yibang #3: brewed light this is really nice; intensity is still high, and complexity comes across even better. I broke form and didn't brew 8 grams of this, maybe more like 5 or 6, and it was a good call, to help moderate intensity. It's odd that so much intensity comes up this far into aging transition. It's not bitter or astringent, it's just that the flavor is intense, and you get plenty from it brewed light.
It's still in that broad spice range, all warmer tones, just not heavy in character. Again it's sassafras, some medicinal spice (maybe back spice oriented?), with some incense spice, along the line of sandalwood, to the extent I can remember that scent. It would be funny if this tastes a lot like patchouli smells and I just don't remember that.
There is also a light mint note in it, that integrates with the warmer spice so much that it's hard to identify. Thais love to smell very strong scented mixes of spices, ya dom, to clear their nose or brighten their mood, and this isn't so close to that typical mix but it might overlap a little. That mint might be evolving into camphor range, where it had been brighter before. Camphor probably should be on the short list of main flavor aspects.
Mengsong: this is finally unfurled enough that I'm breaking it apart, ripping it with my fingers, so it will brew much differently next round, and the one after it will be expressing a more developed character. At this stage it's still quite light, but also very pleasant. It's sweet, floral-oriented, and creamy.
I'm starting to get blasted on these teas and this one isn't even really infusing completely yet. I may need to eat something and walk around a little after the next round.
Ordinarily it doesn't make sense to drink two together like this, not so much because you can't identify the effects of just one, although some people value that, but because you can't make it through a 7 or 8 round infusion cycle and still drink the 14 to 16 cups of tea. I'm not throwing this tea away to rush the process; it's too good to do that.
Yibang #4: the proportion of the long list of flavors I keep mentioning keeps shifting. Now camphor stands out all the more, and incense spice has replaced a lot of the rest. It's the best this has been, and it was pretty good in earlier rounds. Feel is smoother, richer, and not dry at all. Depth picks up, and aftertaste intensity expands. All of that is from using a pretty fast infusion time too, 10 seconds or so.
This is on a path of evolving and improving so much that it may be as good or better for a couple more infusions, then I'd expect complexity to taper off a little in later rounds. Infusion 7 isn't exactly a late round, but I mean this has been evolving to be better and better, more complex and with more depth, and usually that doesn't keep up for the whole cycle.
Mengsong: it's a completely different tea, now that it has started brewing most of the leaves. Flavor range is similar, but intensity is completely different, and the balance seems different, even though the character is really the same. Mild spice tones pick up in this. Nothing like the intensity and complexity of the other version, the Yibang, and this still connects back to warm floral range, and a lighter mineral tone base. Sweetness is really nice in this. It's not missing in the other, but it stands out more in this.
Layers of complex flavors mix together. One part seems like floral or spice, as I've mentioned, then others could seem vegetal, in a sense that's hard to identify. It connects through a warm wood tone range, which is back to sandalwood, or even a touch of cedar. It integrates and balances well. For anyone who doesn't drink young sheng it may seem to include bitterness, but for a sheng drinker the inclusion is so moderate that it's easy to miss the role a very limited input of that plays. Sweetness and other flavor range are much more intense.
These kind of show how I think that slower, dryer aging works for some brighter character teas. In Bangkok the heat and humidity would have overpowered and shifted the brighter range in these at half this age, at 5 or 6 years instead of 11 or 12. That's fine for making Xiaguan more approachable, or Dayi numbered series cakes, because those need a lot of transition, but these would have great to drink at half this age / transition level. And they're still exceptional now, just in a different form, and sense.
Next one might wonder if you couldn't just drink a wet and hot stored version of these at 3 years old to get the same effect, and although it's a personal judgment kind of the call I think not. Moving so much faster, based on fast bacteria and fungus input, the effect isn't the same. Bright tones drop out quickly, within 3 or 4 years, and the warmer range that enters in is slightly different. I'm not saying that wet stored tea has to become musty, although it can be, but flavor range tends to be heavier.
Yibang #5: I let these brew longer because someone delivered a package just as I poured that round. It's a different perspective on the tea, I just wouldn't have tried it without that prompt, for how these were in the last round.
Intensity is a bit much. It's not ruined, but the character is much different. A sappy sort of resin flavor and feel emerges. Camphor is still pronounced, and a different balance of all that spice tone I kept going on about. It's good like this, and nothing really shows up as a flaw. Some people might not like this flavor set or character, but to me that's not related to a quality limitation. It's a positive sign that it drinks well overbrewed (a little; I didn't leave it for too long). Effect is still clean, and that dry edge to the feel isn't unapproachable, it's just more resinous.
Mengsong: this approaches the other tea's character more than it had last round. It also picks up a woody, aromatic spice resinous character. A hint of cedar is pronounced, and beyond that it's more incense spice range. These might be good as truly aged teas, in however long one judges that to take, maybe another decade at this somewhat slow transition pace. They're not fading in intensity, and the evolved character for both is still positive. Some versions seem a lot more woody, but that often relates to a lower quality level and less positive character earlier on.
At a guess I would have liked this tea better at half this age, better even than as fully aged, in another 8 to 10 years. That's more about me liking younger range sheng than how this is changing, or probably will change. I get it that many people like refined, complex, deeper flavors of aged sheng, that it's a very natural preference, especially as a developed one. If I would have been drinking more aged sheng than young versions over the last half dozen years maybe I'd be on that page. I do drink some, regularly, but I love the freshness, brightness, sweetness, and intensity of younger sheng, even though bitterness and more astringency go along with that. Not the kerosene oriented flavor and harsh feel of cheaper factory teas; I mean related to versions that are good within the first few years, or even as brand new tea.
Yibang #6: brewed lighter again the balance changes. It is taking on a slightly more woody flavor; this is kind of fading. This could have easily been where it was at infusion #8, if that last round had been for a normal timing. This is still really nice, complex, with a decent feel, and good balance, but it's on the decline. I did brew a few rounds later on and they were still positive, not noticing any unusual flavor transitions, or fast decline.
Mengsong: this could be where part of this tea only being on it's 3rd infusion helps. It retains some of that early-round brightness and freshness. I suppose some of the late-round extra bitterness is already entering in too, since it was infusing for longer earlier on just to get it decompressed, so it's a mixed effect.
This is still really positive. A little more wood tone enters in, but not to the extent the other is moving in that direction. The brightness includes a touch of citrus; that's something I probably missed in the last two rounds. A little of that creaminess and floral range reminds me of the high mountain character of Taiwanese oolongs; that's pleasant, along with the rest.
Related to my own preference I do like the Mengsong better. Again I might've liked it more 3 or 4 years ago, but it makes sense at this level, and shows promise for how it will be as an aged version, much later on.
Conclusions:
That's already most of what I thought of these. It's hard to express in terms of aspects just how good these teas are. They're good; quality level stands out. It's odd saying that along with commenting that I tend to like younger versions, so for me they'd probably have been better a few years ago. It's not at all a conflict, as I see it.
Value can be hard to assess, because the range of what is out there like these is limited, in comparison with younger / newer tea range. Same for quality level; plenty of tea this good is available, but not as much as more ordinary versions are. You'd have to know where to look to find it.
The Yibang version sells for $148 for a 200 gram cake, equivalent to $264 for a 357 gram version, and the Mengsong for $222 for a 357 gram cake of the same material. That's a bit. Only people with somewhat open tea budgets would consider these, but for sheng enthusiasts who value higher quality aged versions, who have that budget, $300-400 cakes are not such an unusual theme. Or $1000 and up; there's no limit. It's beyond the range I'm familiar enough with to critique, really. But it's probably fair, maybe even a good value.
As I mentioned in the notes I've not leaned into exploring better aged sheng versions, and kind of couldn't, given that this higher pricing extends all the more to sample range, where none of it would be under $1 a gram. In that sense buying 80 grams of the Mengsong for $62 is a good value. People already feel however they do about the dragonball form, who are already in the process of exploring above average quality sheng pu'er. It seems like a dozen years ago the conventional reaction was that it's a great way to try a little of these types of teas, and then within 8 or 9 years ago a loose pu'er community consensus was that they don't brew very well, so they stopped turning up as frequently. Of course they're still around, even as newly pressed versions, but not like a decade ago.
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cats coming down with the flu has been a running theme lately |
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her too |
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