Tea Mania Yibang and Mengsong sheng pu'er, from 2013 and 14

 

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.

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.

cats coming down with the flu has been a running theme lately

her too

Kokang Myanmar dragonball sheng vs. cake review

I just wrote about pu'er-like teas from South East Asia in general, here, and this is another example, from the Kokang producer in Myanmar.

These teas are probably not identical, besides the shape, but I expect the difference in brewing from the shape difference to be the main story.  They're both from the same producer, both from the same general area.  The cake tea (which I already reviewed) was from last year, and these dragonballs may be too, but I missed reference to that.

I checked the prior review to see if I was describing this cake-pressed version in the same way, and it mentions a hint of dried fruit (interpretation) that I didn't seem to include here, with the tea mainly floral for flavor range in both.  And quite sweet, with moderate, well-balanced bitterness; all that is relatively common.  The idea was to see if the shape really made any difference, in addition to comparing the two versions for style that might not relate to that.

This shape presentation gets mixed reviews in online discussion.  Some people like dragonballs--which aren't always called that--for the convenience of starting with a pre-measured amount.  Others can't stand them, probably related to being accustomed to using their own carefully controlled brewing process, which getting tea pressed into a ball saturated throws off, since beyond dictating the amount could need to be infused for a few rounds before the tea in the middle even starts brewing.  It's possible to tear them in two, or in parts, after a rinse and an infusion or two, and I usually don't wait however many infusions it would take for one to unfold on its own.

I'll focus on how this difference actually changes brewed tea character.  That will probably require using longer infusion times for the ball, initially, because it will need to unfold, while the other loose version will infuse to a good level in 10 seconds or less, at proportions I prefer.  To me this cake version amount relates to a standard proportion, not enough to crowd the gaiwan when infused, but not a lower proportion that will require extending brewing times.  As to how many grams that is I could guess but I've just been eye-balling sheng for years, not weighing it, so it would only be a guess.

a moderate length rinse didn't get far with the dragonball

Review:

a faster start than I expected for it opening up

I went with a 10 second infusion the first time, not short, but standard enough.  This dragonball probably won't be far along yet.  I tried to tear it in two but it was too early, and only split off some leaves.  That's not ideal because those leaves are probably more broken now, and brewing as loose tea while half the rest hasn't been exposed to hot water.

The loose version really is pleasant.  There's a way above average sweetness present that works well with the moderate bitterness.  Mostly floral tones dominate the flavor profile, which works.  Mineral is also notable, but as an underlying aspect.  Feel already has some fullness to it with aftertaste even more pronounced.  The way that heavy sweetness, moderate bitterness, and flint-mineral combine and balance makes this more appealing than the set of individual aspects would be otherwise.  It'll probably be even better in a year since it has intensity to spare and that floral range won't fade quickly, and swapping out some bitterness for warmer tones would probably work well.  Or it's quite good now; I'm not implying that it isn't.

The dragonball version almost has to be from a quite different leaf source.  All of those descriptions still work, sort of, but the aspects are present in a different form, with none of it matching directly.  Mineral range takes on an almost medicinal quality, sweetness isn't as pronounced, or the floral range, or bitterness, for that matter, and a hint of smoke seems to be included.  Natural smoke flavor, this seems, like the earthy/mineral trace that seems different in form than smoked teas tend to come across.  If it was really smoked that could be pine smoke.  A bit of pine flavor seems present, as strong as the floral aspect in the first, but here mixed with a different expression of floral range.

It is possible to pull this ball apart, not by splitting or tearing it, but just carefully pulling leave bunches apart.  There's a small core that's not infused yet but after the next round this will about as saturated as the loose tea already is now.  The leaves will have been infusing unevenly, across the rinse and first three rounds, but after that differences might level off quite a bit.  I'll go ahead and give both around a 10 second infusion time again.

the ball is coming apart already (right), with some assistance

Second infusion:

dragonball version slightly cloudy, but that was mostly cleared next round

The dragonball tea is brewing slightly darker, with just a trace of cloudiness in the liquid (not necessarily a good sign, but nothing to be too concerned with; the effect will show up in the experienced aspects).  It would've been possible to let this open on its own, to not untangle it, so that the process would have taken one or two infusions longer.  I see opening faster as a best case, of sorts, but that might be a judgement call.

The cake pressed version is about the same, maybe evolving a bit more warmth and complexity.  There's definitely bitterness present; someone trying to avoid that in sheng wouldn't care for this tea.  To me it balances well, with the form and level quite pleasant.  The overall effect is clean, bright, and intense; it's good.  Again the bitterness, pronounced sweetness, light mineral (now slightly warmer), and floral tone balance really well.  Most of that judgement is subjective, of course, that I like the mix based on my own preference.

Smoke picks up in the dragonball version.  It's heavier in bitterness, with stronger and different mineral tone.  The floral is almost not noticeable as a background aspect, with a green wood filling in more vegetal scope instead.  This tea also kind of works but lighter brewing would do it justice, and it has probably just finished an initial wetting process that will enable it showing its true character better next round.  Which can be a short one; the cake version is plenty intense enough for a 5 second infusion to work and this will be better lighter, it seems.

Third infusion:

The cake version isn't different, but it works well slightly lighter.  I don't remember that this character evolved all that much over the rounds in the first review; maybe it won't.  That's not such a bad thing, if it starts out positive.  The flavor range might still be warming slightly, with the more intense sweetness and floral tone drawing back just a little.

The dragonball version is slightly clearer; cloudiness is hard to notice in this infusion.  It's definitely darker.  One might wonder why.  It could be a year older tea version, not a 2018 but from the year prior.  Or the leaves could have oxidized a little.  Tea character can change a little during the processing steps, from what I've heard, but both of these were probably re-wetted (steamed) from a loose / maocha form to be made into these shapes.  It could have taken longer to dry, or the heating process (pan frying) didn't remove quite as much moisture from the leaves initially, enabling them to dry slower.  It could've just been a lot more humid out, which would make a change, with young sheng appearing this dark atypical but definitely not unheard of.

I just ran through all of this with Anna related to a Kinnari Tea sheng cake she passed on (compared to a second maocha version here).  She confirmed that her impression matched my guess about the oxidation level in that (with the rest about moisture levels I just expressed a bit beyond what I really should be saying anything about, since I have exactly zero experience with processing tea):


the batch they took for that pressing was autumn tea. especially the stems were probably not cooked quite enough during shaqing, a common occurrence especially in autumn when the stems are thicker, so they turn red (oxidize) early on during maturation. it's a point that is often criticized by chinese buyers of lao tea, and one of the points we try to address during trainings: how to manage the moisture content in the leaves during shaqing so that the leaves can be cooked enough before becoming too dry.



So this could potentially also relate to this tea being an autumn version, although that's not indicated as likely by this input, just possible.  In discussing it further Anna and I both agreed that a bit of oxidation present in sheng isn't necessarily a flaw, that a tea can be just as pleasant but slightly different in form with that, but that it probably does cost it a little in terms of aging potential.  But even that would be more clear after letting the tea sit in storage for at least a dozen years, and probably clearer yet after 15.

Anna mentioned that other Laos teas are on the way, but I still have three versions I've not reviewed yet from her; I should get on that [editing note:  the reviewed I already mentioned occurred the next day and was posted already, these are posted out of tasting order].  Two of the other tea versions she described are really novel (I'll get to explaining how), but it sounds like the best of the sheng they picked up in Laos might be the others.  Best is all relative, of course; I really liked both that I tried already. 


Back to this review.  The dragonball version expresses a different, stronger form of bitterness.  The other tea's bitterness is pronounced but lighter (not the level, the type), maybe a little "cleaner," although really no description probably does the distinction justice.  Bitterness in this version is like biting a dandelion flower or stem; heavy, but also specific in form.  It could just be an intensity issue and I'm adding bad judgement to isolating causation.  I still like this tea but it's not as light, sweet, floral, and clean, and swapping out floral tone for green wood isn't positive.  I don't like it as much.  These would also seem to have pretty good aging potential because intensity is definitely there, and bitterness level could reduce a good bit and still balance.

Fourth infusion:

The cake version is consistent.  The same aspects shift slightly in balance, giving the effect of not drinking exactly the same tea, which is nice, but it's not so different.  Which is good; it's quite pleasant.  Later editing note:  towards later rounds in the first review I interpreted the flavor as moving from only floral to slightly into dried fruit range.  It's easy to do a less complete review when trying two teas, especially when one is re-reviewed and used as a benchmark, versus that description being a primary goal.


The dragonball version cleans up a little and shifts some in flavor.  The earlier aspects set is still present (bitterness, which overlaps with an unusual pronounced mineral tone, green wood, light supporting floral), developing a little towards tobacco.  There's still a faint hint of smoke present; that works well with the tobacco range.  The aspect range seemed to "clean up."  The other tea is light in profile but intense in comparison; this is a little burlier.  Some people probably would prefer this version for that difference.  Put another way it comes across as less refined but it hits a little harder.  I can't imagine that this is an autumn tea, but then what do I know.

Fifth infusion:

the brewed liquid color evened up

I'll have to let this tasting go after this, off to a water slide outing today.  That would be more exciting if I was 5 or 10 years old myself but I do love seeing the kids go through all that.

Flavor range is shifting for the cake version; it's picking up some aromatic wood range now, along with warming in tone over the last couple of rounds.  It's still pleasant, just not improved.  The feel still has a nice thickness and it carries over to plenty of aftertaste.

It's odd how the smoke strengthened in this dragonball version, gradually over a few infusions.  It seems possible that's just a natural flavor aspect, since if it was from smoke contact it should have also stood out initially, maybe even more then.  The smoke along with tobacco earthiness (related to what was green wood earlier on) works well enough together.  Floral is not noticeable at this point, but then it also wasn't so prominent in the cake version at this round.

I'm curious how these will unfold for one more round so I'll rush it, but both will probably be what I expect, just woodier.  I'll let the infusion run well over 10 seconds, so not rush it in that sense, just make the tasting part quick.

Sixth infusion:

Brewed tea color evened up, with the cake version darkening over these rounds; I'm not sure what that means.

Wood really is picking up in the first version.  You can still pick up floral but it's in the background now.  For tasting like aromatic wood this still comes across as really bright and clean, and well balanced.  It's those subtle context forms that make it so pleasant; it's sophisticated and light but intense, not heavy but full and slightly wet, not overly bitter but the form and level of bitterness works really well.

The other is more intense related to flavor, that set of green wood, tobacco, and mild smoke that has more effect on the overall impression than the light level might indicate it would.  The feel has a touch of dryness to it, but decent fullness.  Aftertaste is pleasant but less sweet than for the other tea, more green wood and that hint of dryness and smoke lingers.  For someone on that page it would still work really well but for me the other cake version just works better.

Conclusions:

The teas are both nice.  They share some similarities but are quite different.  I really thought the form difference would affect how they brewed more than it did.  The first couple of rounds unfolded differently but after that more differences seemed to stem from the tea itself, not so much from the shape.

It probably doesn't make sense to say a lot about value since I heard pricing related to these at a sales expo centered around wholesale pricing distribution, but for someone buying the tea at that range it would be a very good value (probably for both versions).  To me these teas are in that medium level quality range that tends to be priced way above the earlier $40 or so cake norm now, from the recent past, more typically selling for $70 and up.  Demand for versions from a local area factor into that, and I have no idea how that works out related to Myanmar teas in general.  As far as character related to a judgement about them being pleasant and of good quality level these are nice, with the cake version probably slightly nicer.  Or that could just be a judgement call based on personal preference, even though that's not how I see it.

about people visiting from Germany and India; I should write a post about that

Golding Bulang Dragonball (sheng pu'er ball)

Interesting looking!  I'm not seeing this on the Golding shop website, but then they've communicated they're updating that site content now, with an alternate contact for them through Facebook.


Even the initial brew, with the ball just starting to loosen up, shows where this is going to go.  The tea is nice, good sweetness and complexity, with lots going on, and some of the astringency / bitterness /  mineral element / medicinal aspect common in sheng.

a little edgy to be tea drunk

Other pu’er drinkers might contest any of those descriptions as common sheng pu'er elements, although what I mean in general is probably clear enough.  Astringency isn’t used here in the same sense as in Assamica black teas, for sure, closer to related aspects in green tea.  Bitterness is often confused with astringency, even though they are different things, one being a taste (bitterness) and astringency a mouth-feel element.  More tasting will help determine which is present in this tea.


The taste range includes some mineral, it’s just not as clear that relates to the other flavors / aspects I’m saying it could typically tie to, that astringency and mineral flavors could be related.  “Medicinal” is more commonly used to describe an unusual aspect found in older teas, typically as something positive.  But then different medicines would have different tastes, so there would need to be more inter-subjective agreement on how it should be used for that description to really be meaningful.

All that aside, the tea is nice.  There is lots of honey sweetness too, along with floral tones, some mineral range, and below that a trace of a pleasant earthy aspects, maybe something towards leather, with a bit of spice.  I’m ok with preference for teas within that sheng character range, so all this just requires some dialing in and unpacking.


Early on even a flash infusion works, barely giving the tea a few seconds, tempering the more challenging aspects down to a background element.  The tea is even positive toned way down, brewed quite lightly, of course depending on preference, still letting the nice flavors step forward.  The flavors and character are going to soften and transition just from the tea loosening up and coming to life beyond some initial infusions.


After some it does soften a little, with that honey sweetness remaining as the primary flavor aspect, with floral elements and minerals below that.  I’ll leave off with the mouth-feel description since I don’t have developed preference related to that anyway.  The tea is nice, with good complexity, but it’s hard to separate into more flavors; I’m mostly just getting that basic set, and I’m not so good with breaking down “floral” into specific flowers.  Based on the dry scent it had seemed like there was a little more range that would come out, earth or spice, but it remains faint, or maybe only present in my imagination.  The mineral might correspond to a trace of overlapping vegetal tone, not like a green tea tasting like green beans or bell peppers, but there might be just a faint touch of something.  I'm not noticing much in the way of actual bitterness, just a touch at most.


Even though flavors are mostly in the range of honey, floral, and mineral aspects, not a description of my favorite tea types, the tea still works for me.  The flavors are really clean, and the character softened to a nice range.  I wouldn’t give up dark roasted oolongs and black teas to focus on sheng pu’er based on this one tea experience but it’s nice enough, pleasant.  Many infusions along that trace of spice did start to pick up a bit, it seemed.


It seemed to me there is enough complexity to the tea that different brewing approaches could draw out different aspects more, so even though I didn’t experience lots of transition the tea seemed like it probably could potentially express more range, in that sense.

Beyond the review

The tea raises some questions.  It’s not normal for blog posts to point towards gaps in what is covered, typically just citing a description and moving on, but I’ll do so.  It struck me as odd the tea wasn’t more astringent or bitter.  Per a Tea DB post that gets into sub-regional version characteristics of pu’er bitterness would be characteristic of Bulang pu’er, and of course younger sheng pu’er in general:


Located in Menghai county, Bulang stands in stark contrast to the light and subtle aftertaste characteristic of Yiwu. One of the principle tea regions for Menghai tea factory, Bulang raw pu’erh is usually bold, bitter, and strong flavored. Due to its proximity with Menghai Tea Factory it commonly finds its way into ripe pu’erh. It is less likely to find Bulang marketed as Bulang than Yiwu, even though it produces alot of tea. Perhaps most notably, Bulang is also home to some of the hottest, pu’erh areas including: Lao Banzhang and Lao Mane.


Very clear!  So different areas cover different scope, and designations can overlap, to some extent.

Back to the tea not actually being bitter (or even astringent), it makes me wonder if the tea hasn’t been aged, or how aging changes related to smaller pu'er shapes.



That citation also starts into pu’er origin areas, to what extent different teas from the same area express different characteristics, which I won’t follow up on here.  Based on experience with other tea types characteristics can vary a lot or not much at all by the type of tea.  Some black tea types or light oolongs can be relatively consistent, varying by quality level but not as much in range of aspects, or put another way some tea types tend to be relatively consistent by aspect.  Wuyi Yancha or Dan Cong oolongs can vary a lot, not just as different quality levels, with different aspects per equivalent teas.  Those express a wide range of characteristic flavors, aromatic components, preparation styles, etc.


Some of the rest of what remains open relates to my own preference, and preference development.  It seems at least possible I like this tea compared to those other pu’er versions from Golding more due to becoming more familiar with sheng range, again.  I don’t think that's a significant factor, but more tasting might help pin that down.  It just seemed like a pleasant, easy to appreciate tea, for some maybe not bitter and edgy or “structured” enough, per preference for such things, but quite nice to me.


All this reminds me of a more general consideration, the difference in interest between actually experiencing drinking a tea and in reviewing tea background (cultivars, processing, regional sources, types, storage issues, etc.).  To me they are two completely different subjects, even though they do overlap.  I have an interest in both, in learning lots about tea (and discussing all that, here or in groups), and in experiencing different teas, but for me I experience both almost as two different interests.

I can completely relate to people who are much more interested only in drinking tea, an idea raised by a friend recently.  Some knowledge of types is required in order to place orders but maybe not a lot more than that, maybe more accurate for other types than for pu'er.  Sorting out source areas, age, and storage conditions is required for pu'er, some of which you can skip if you can just trust a vendor to pick what you like (which is typically a cue to mention the White 2 Tea vendor; make of that what you will).

It's not as if I'm digging so deep in this post; it mostly does just say what the one tea version tastes like, so here just related to typical area-type characteristics.  Looking back the last version of abstract tea research in this blog related to Darjeeling cultivars a month ago, although research into a Wuyi Yancha type strayed a bit too, and I was covering a lot related to cultivars from Taiwan last year.  I may do more with pu'er background based on more Golding vendor input later; we'll see how that goes.