Menghai Tea Factory (Finepuer)

Quite a tasty semi-aged raw, greener than the age would suggest (mine was stored in Kuming, but I’m sure the tight compression also had something to do with it).
The highlight for me is the very nice rich perfumy floral aroma with a hint of smoke.
The flavor features a distinct grassy note, along with some nice sweetness, minerality, plums and that hint of smoke from the aroma. Not really much wood or other aged notes, maybe aside from some resin. Bitterness and astringency is present but rather low, body is pretty good. The aftertaste is probably the weakest side of this cake, just a basic drying without much sweetness, but at the price I got this for (10$/100 grams) I really can’t complain.

The first couple steps are light and sweet with wildflower honey, black tea, dried apricot, and citrus notes dominating the golden brew, with a sweet earthiness in the background. It quickly becomes bittersweet and turns orange. I normally would have reduced the steeping time, but the bittersweet steeps have a deep, aromatic, resinous wood thing that I love, and it disappears in lighter steeps. The bitterness is quite tolerable anyway. The next few steeps move toward a more generic but still pleasant mushroomy earthiness, and that’s where this session ends because I’ve had a lot of puerh today and I can feel it.

So there you are, minding your own business, when he grabs a sharp tool and comes after you.

Of course, you’d seen it before. Nobody spent much time around here without witnessing the like. You’re hanging out with your peeps, in comfortable digs, the next thing you know 10g gets hacked off into a baggie, crammed in a small box and flung out to who-knows-where.

They tell you it’s because they’ve asked for you. They want you. Really? 10g doesn’t sound like true desire, real passion. You can’t get to know each other that fast. The pressure is unreal – one shot, maybe two if you’re lucky. You might get to acclimitize, you might not. If you do, it’s probably with dozens of other cast-off shards in a box or a cupboard. They might not even pick you on purpose, when they do, they could just be reaching in and blindly grabbing. Nice to meet you too.

Water is the key, but they’ll have decided their favorite and you’ll have to deal with it. There’s no room to experiment when you’re only 10g. Climate, vessel, the mood they’re in – it’s a crapshoot. You’re only one in a series of unfair tryouts. Consider yourself exceedingly fortunate if they haven’t already got some half-baked idea about you before they’ve even begun. After all, they’ve tried dozens of your kind – once.

The worst – pray it doesn’t happen to you – is if, when the day has come, and you’re ready for it to be over, finally, they come and take 7 or 8g. Almost better to get tossed then, because otherwise they won’t notice you, won’t think about you, except to pick you up months or years later, when you’re dried up and so, so tired, only to look at you with sad eyes and put you down again.

I’m trying a new tea today. How about you?

I have had great fun with this tea throughout the day— stressful day and I chose this special tea as both an escape and a reward. It worked oh so well! High quality Yiwu material; good storage; nicely aged. Full of flavor; smooth with enough complexity to make it interesting; nice longevity (six infusions so far and my maximum steeping time has been only 8 seconds). An expensive tea but well worth the investment. This will not be a daily drinker for me but one reserved for those I would consider more special or important tea sessions. I am really excited about this one and highly recommend!

Note: Can become astringent and smoky when over-leafed or over-steeped.

I’m confused now where I got this sample, I’ve received many samples lately. The tea was in a Baggie and then a small labeled box. Something must have happened to it. This tea had no scent, no color in the cup and no flavor. It Refused to Infuse.

Got this out to celebrate with tonight. Been saving this.
I got the pack out the box even has a picture of the tea inside. Nice packaging points given.
The dry leaf has a bit of the old book aroma to it. The leaf is an almost pitch color.
I tossed it in the Gaiwan and did a quick rinse. The wash looked very dark so I will steep this quick 2 to 3 seconds. The color is a light gold and I had expected a darker brew from a tea of this age. I would think dry stored. The aroma is a bit musky with a bit of campfire in there as well. This may have been due to the makers still doing hand processing instead of machine. The taste is smoky a good sharp citrus flavor and a good hit of bitter, I have had 6 steeps and this one is still doing well holding up. The Cha Qui of this one is slowly creeping in and I am getting some of the cooling and camphor notes.
A great tea to celebrate with. The car re-build went well and the Dyno results are in.
410 horsepower at the wheel and 448 ft lbs. of torque. For the goal of 500 hp. on pump gas has been met! Come on Summer!

Several sessions later, I now have a better sense of this tea. Flavor is aged fruity with characteristics of ordinary tea bag black tea. Easy to drink, with strong enough, very well rounded flavor that can be pushed quite far without going bitter. after several cups, I am left with a comfortable, warm, relaxed buzzing feeling that for me is a hallmark of good aged puer.
If I were to find something lacking in it, then I would state that It does not have a volatile aromatic (cogniac/cinnamon/vanilla/camphor,etc..) quality that for me is a sign of really excellent puer, Though its price is far less than teas that I have had with this quality.

This is a solid tea, easy to drink and brew. Definitely recommended. Well priced.
Its a chance to taste a reproduction of what is arguably the most famous puer recipe of all time, so it should certainly be near the top of the ‘must try once’ list of any puer fan.

sufficiently complex flavor and decently aged. has a herbal, almost fruity quality to it. no musty storage notes. has a hint of what might have once been a smokey flavor.

I am happy to have picked up a full beeng. Its quite different from 2004. actually I liked the (no longer in stock) 2004 better. It had what seem to be higher quality, plump leaves and more thickness, with a distinct prune aroma. but this one is more aged, mellow, easier on the stomach.

Nice cake made of high quality first flush tea leaves. The cake has a pleasant light and fresh aroma. Clear dark gold liquor. In terms of flavor, there is a lovely forest honey sweetness in the sip without any bitterness or smoke. While very sweet, I did not detect any fruit. Sometimes able to detect the floral of meadow flowers. This is definitely a rather light and gentle cup with a clean and lingering finish and a pleasant aftertaste. Overall a very enjoyable Menghai Dayi product. I went light on the leaf this time but plan to increase the dry leaf by 50% the next time I prepare a cup.

Working 10 grams of this up in the Gaiwan to see how it does. This is the oldest Menghai Spring that I have that was purchased as a set of samples from Finepuerh. They seem to another pretty good seller in the market. Their packaging and labeling was really nice.
Enough about them and now to the tea. I picked this one after Scratch the kitty tea randomizer picked the White2Tea Amerykah 3 times in a row! I don’t think I can do that tonight and work tomorrow.
Wet lea still has the green scent with a little wisp of smoke in there. brew is a little darker than the 2008 cake I had a couple of days ago. This has evened out into a sweet brew without much bite or astringency to it. Honey and flowers in aroma and taste to this one. it is a little unassuming compared to the tea I had earlier in the day. Smooth and mellow would be the notes on this. Not much vibrancy or punch but an easy drinking brew.

Still has that “punch you in the face” bite in the first infusion. The green taste is still strong in this one . It has been dry aged I believe as much of this remains. The leaves are still showing a lot of green with the red starting on the edges. It became less harsh after the third infusion and became nice and easy to drink. I think this one with the strong qi will age very nice in proper storage.