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The last of the samples I’ve ordered from white2tea. So far I’ve not been impressed with any of their teas, but perhaps my mistake was ordering fresh 2017 spring productions instead of going for teas from 2016. Anyway, this one has some age on it so it should not suffer from being too young at least. I’ve only tried around half a dozen or so semi-aged raw pu’ers so far as I’ve been quite content with drinking and sampling young raws for the time being, so bear in mind that my experience and palate when it comes to these teas is still quite limited.

I used 12 grams in my 180ml teapot made from clay from Dehua. The sample smelled extremely dank when I received it, which is why I’ve given it several months in my pumidor to air out. Fortunately this worked and I didn’t note any off notes in the smell or taste during this session. I rinsed the leaves for ten seconds and let them rest for five minutes before I began brewing proper. I did a total of nine steeps, for 10s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s, 2 min. and 3 min. The wet leaves have a scent of pinewood and bark. Perhaps slightly wet or decaying in the beginning, but it moves toward more fresh wood over the course of the steeps, eventually resembling warm wood stacked beside the fireplace.

The first steep surprised with its honey-like sweetness. It wasn’t nearly as intense as some of the sweetest young raws I’ve had, but definitely the sweetest of the handful of semi-aged shengs I’ve tried. The sweetness was accompanied by a dryness I’m accustomed to with every aged sheng I’ve tried. Note that this dry character does not often mean the tea is actually drying as well, although some steeps with this tea were a little bit of that as well. The mouthfeel was quite interesting and something you definitely took note of. The second steep was still quite sweet. It had now moved from honey to somewhere between honey and apricot. The dry finish was naturally still there as well.

The sweetness was gone by the third infusion, with the tea beginning to taste a bit sour now. There was also some bitterness in the finish now as well. So far the mouthfeel had remained the same. The next steep provided very typical semi-aged flavors. Dry, smoky, a bit bitter and prickly on the tongue. After a few small cups, the tea starts tasting a bit creamy. It got even creamier in the fifth steeping, with more pronounced flavors across the board, including the bitterness, but it was by no means any sort of bad kind of bitterness.

The tea started getting better in the sixth brew. The sweetness from the beginning was now starting to come back while the dryness was beginning to fall off. While the seventh steep was clearly a strong extraction, the flavors were beginning to taper off. The taste was a basic aged dry bitter taste. The tea was still quite drinkable though. It was slightly refreshing, but the dry finish also demanded you to keep drinking more. Even at this point the tea still retained most of its original mouthfeel.

The eighth steep was pretty basic now. The tea had a sort of slightly sweet woody taste. The mouthfeel was nice, slick, actually now somewhat oily. I actually quite liked this steep and it was possibly my favorite of the bunch. I could have possibly extended the brewing time for steep nine by more than just a minute as it ended up being slightly sweet, but clearly quite watery now. However, I thought that this tea was pretty much done by this point so I decided to end it there.

This tea was pretty decent. Clearly not made from high-end material, but not low-grade stuff either. As far as semi-aged teas go, this was actually the best one I’ve had so far, although not something I liked terribly much either. A couple of steeps were pretty good, but overall this is not a tea I would purchase for myself. However it is something that I can recommend for someone who is looking for a semi-aged sheng that doesn’t break the bank to try. Some people may enjoy drinking it now, but with further aging I would expect the bitterness to gradually die down and the sweetness to become even more pronounced. I think the price for this one is right, so if you like it go for it.

Another 2017 offering, this time the first Hai Lang Hao raw pu’er I’ve tried. I used 8.9g in a 130ml gaiwan and drank the tea both from a regular glazed teacup as well as an unglazed Jianshui clay cup. I rinsed the leaves briefly for five seconds and drank the wash while I let the moisture soak in for five to ten minutes. The texture was soft and creamy. I proceeded to do eleven more steeps, timing for these being 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s, 2 min. and 3 min.

The first actual steep was much bolder than the wash. It had a wonderful mouthfeel and the same creamy vanilla flavor you got a hint of in the rinse. The steep that followed felt really heavy both in the mouth and going down. I’m not really equipped to describe the flavor. It was amiable with maybe a hint of fruit, but nothing spectacular. My tongue was left feeling kind of bloated and like it wanted to rise to touch the roof of my mouth.

The third steep was really creamy, but also greener and somewhat astringent. The tea started to be less enjoyable in the next infusion when drunk from the regular cup, but from the clay cup it was soft and sweet. Steep number five saw a return back to soft and creamy, but now with a bit of astringency as well. This time the tea was actually less enjoyable from the clay cup, tasting mainly quite mineraly.

I should have probably pushed the tea a bit harder for the sixth steep as the flavor began dropping. At this point the tea started tasting more like a young green sheng. The flavor was about 50% prior sweetness and 50% young raw taste. The tea continued to be pretty thick in the next steep. It was quite sweet with an almost toffee or brown sugar sweetness to it. The sweetness also persisted in the mouth. Some of this sweetness lingered in the background in the eighth steeping, but in general the tea was becoming less pleasant. It was softer when drunk from clay, but very basic.

Steep nine still had a surprising amount of body, but it was even more evident that the tea was becoming very basic in terms of taste. The soup was sweet and green, but when drunk from clay it got MUCH sweeter. The ofter characteristic soft, thick mouthfeel was still present in the next steep. The flavor was becoming increasingly green with the sweetness diminishing, but the astringency was still just barely there. The eleventh infusion was the last one I did. The tea was still slightly sweet, but also more astringent now. While the tea most likely still had more in it, I didn’t expect to see any more nuance developing so I called it there.

While this is clearly a quality tea, although not necessarily of the absolute highest quality, and I have no doubt it will develop into a great tea in a decade or two, it didn’t really appeal to me personally. Nothing about it struck me as special enough and the flavor profile didn’t appeal to me. I’ve yet to explore aged teas enough to find any that appealed to me, but this one despite being young actually reminded me of some of the things that didn’t appeal to me about the handful of semi-aged raws that I’ve tried. If I can predict any kind of trajectory for this tea based on how it is now, my gut feeling is that I won’t like it any more ten years from now as I do now. That being said, this tea is still really young and unless you have incredible confidence in your ability to evaluate raw pu’ers and know exactly what you want, it’s still too early to properly evaluate it I’d say. I still have two thirds of my sample left, so I will try this tea again a year from now. I have a feeling my thoughts on it won’t change, but you never know.

The sample I received stands out in appearance from most raw pu’ers you typically see. The leaves are rather large, largely intact and they’ve been neatly pressed into clear layers. I’ve had the sample in my pumidor for quite a few months, but I finally wanted to make a purchase decision on this tea, so I threw nine grams into my 130ml gaiwan and got brewing. I rinsed the leaves briefly for five seconds, giving them ten minutes before the first infusion. I did ten steeps, for 6s, 6s, 8s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s and 90s.

For this session I used both a regular glazed teacup as well as a brand new unglazed Jianshui clay teacup to evaluate the tea. I’ve used a similar cup for shu pu’er for a few weeks now with great results and was glad to discover that at least with this tea the clay seemed to be suited for sheng as well. Based on my limited testing, at least while new the clay can mute high notes somewhat while boosting lower notes and increasing body. For ripe pu’er the pairing is almost ideal, but after two failed experiments with dian hong I was glad to discover that at least with this particular raw pu’er I did not seem to lose too much of the tea’s nuance, whilst significantly bringing forth the tea’s flavor. The cup does alter the flavor profile slightly, but from here on I’ll likely be evaluating teas using a pair of a glazed and a clay cup.

As is customary to me, I did drink the rinse. While the color was still really pale, the tea was already surprisingly thick. While rinses can be somewhat hard to judge in terms of flavor, this one was nice, maybe a bit fruity but also somewhat creamy.

The first proper infusion still brewed a really pale greenish yellow. The tea, however, was much, much bolder. It had a nice, oily, almost buttery mouthfeel and it was really aromatic with a long aftertaste. The taste itself was creamy, slightly vegetal. The second steep produced an interesting luminescent yellow that was characteristic of this session. The tea continued to be bold and creamy, veering slightly more toward green now. It was also possibly hinting at astringency that was to come.

The soup was notably thicker in the third steep. The taste was greener and there was a hint of dryness, but vegetal was possibly the most dominant character. The next steeping was somewhat more coarse. The taste leaned more toward cooked vegetables now and the tea left my tongue a tad sandpapery and caused a slight burning sensation at the back of my throat.

Infusion number five continued to be quite strong. It was mostly vegetal still with a dry finish. The tea continued to be nicely thick in the sixth steep while the taste remained vegetal, but now also with a refreshing quality to it.

The seventh brew was harsher, less enjoyable. This is where the clay cup made the tea much more drinkable. The taste itself was a cross between vegetal and mineral. The next infusion was much better. It was quite reminiscent of the early steeps with its creamy vegetal taste. It was quite yummy and still nicely thick.

In the ninth steep the tea got harsher again, with some slight astringency to it now as well. While the tenth infusion was still quite full in the mouth, the flavors were beginning to simplify and the tea becoming less enjoyable and rewarding. I decided to call it here. While the tea could have possibly gone on for a bit longer, I think there’s a high probability it could get nasty really fast.

This tea was really good. It didn’t blow me away, but the quality is evident. The only reason I’m not more enthusiastic about it is because I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing some really high-end teas recently and while this one is better than a lot of other teas out there, it can’t quite compete with the best of the best at least in its current young state. With age I have no doubt this will become a fantastic tea. For such a young tea, this is very drinkable, although I’m not sure if it’s quite dynamic and interesting enough to warrant more than a session or two before tucking it away to age. While not cheap, I do think this sheng offers good value for the price, especially for a 2017 tea.

Normally I would order a cake of this right away, but as my pumidor for sheng is starting to get short on space, there are a few other teas I want to try before deciding which ones to get. I will likely invest in a second clay jar to break up another cake for drinking purposes and free up space that way as well. Nevertheless, this tea has my recommendation.

Companion review to the 2016 autumn Bohetang I reviewed last time. The sample I received was practically mao cha. I used 8.7g in a 130ml gaiwan and did a total of eleven steeps after rinsing the leaves briefly for five seconds and letting the moisture soak in for ten minutes before proceeding with the brewing. Timing for the steeps were 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s and 45s. I did drink the rinse and it turned out to be shockingly strong, bright, fruity, even bitter.

The first steep following the rinse was very bright. I’m not quite sure if fruity is apt here. The tea also had some interesting savoriness to it. While the body was only decent, the qi made you calm and focused. The second steeping had close to no taste when it entered your mouth, but it left your tongue feeling very sweet. The tea felt warming in the body while being very cooling in the mouth, making it feel like a wind tunnel.

The third brew was bright, mineral, astringent. It coated your tongue in a way that let you keep tasting it over and over again while also having a calming effect. In the fourth brew I tasted fruit, possibly orange, mandarin or something of that nature. The tea also had a common young raw pu’er layer to it along with some harshness that was potentially a mixture of astringency and some bitterness. At this point I could also pick up an orange peel aroma from the leaves.

The fifth infusion was bright and mineral, continuing to have a hint of a harsh edge to it. It had a bitterness that persisted in the mouth. The following infusion ended up being dominantly harsh, which resulted in me holding back on the steeping time for all subsequent infusions. The tea left your mouth sandpapery and coated your tongue with a prickly mineral sensation. A high level of bitterness is revealed once the liquor cools down.

The seventh steep produced a soup with a mineral character with a metallic edge to it. Despite attempts at holding back on the brewing time, bitter was the dominant flavor in the eighth steep. It was almost a creamy bitterness. Not really a bad kind of bitter, but not quite a pleasant bitterness either, although it wasn’t too far off. Surprisingly the ninth brew offered more body. The taste was mineral with very little astringency and close to no bitterness.

The tea began to simplify in the tenth steep, continuing to present a mainly mineral character with perhaps a hint of mineral sweetness as well. I did one final steep and the tea was beginning to be rather simple and plain now, while still maintaining quite good strength. The leaves could have quite possibly brewed at least a couple more times in this mineral, slightly sweet fashion, but I doubt there would have been anything more of interest in store.

I’m not very familiar with the Yiwu region and this was my first Gua Feng Zhai, so this tea was very interesting to try. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but this tea turned out to be more of a wild mare than I’d anticipated. While the early steeps exhibited clear quality markers, the middle steeps were often dominated by bitterness and/or astringency, until finally settling to a quite typical mineral/sweet profile. While the bitterness and astringency were at no point so excessive as to make the tea unpleasant, the tea wasn’t particularly interesting or enjoyable either. Although this might be a tea that would benefit from slightly different brewing parameters like a lower temperature, I’d say that this is likely a tea that you would seek to age rather than drink now. I found Bitterleaf’s two other high-end teas that I’ve tried – Oz and Mint Condition – to be more to my liking. Both have a very soft profile and really nice cha qi. If you have your sights set on Windfall and are intending to order a sample, I’d recommend picking up a sample of Mint Condition as well as it shares the same price point and is another Yiwu tea.

It could be that this is the kind of high-caliber tea that is still beyond me or perhaps it still needs more age to be properly appreciated. Either way, I still have some of my sample left so I’ll be trying out this tea again in another six months or so. If my impressions of it change dramatically, I will do a follow-up review, otherwise not.

I’ve had a sample of this in my pumidor for a few months now. I thought right around now might be a good time to start sampling teas from autumn 2016, so this’ll be the first one I’ll be reviewing. I used ten grams in a 140ml gaiwan and did a total of ten steeps, timing for these being 5s, 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s and 75s. I rinsed the leaves briefly for just over five seconds and let the moisture soak in for five to ten minutes before I began brewing. As is customary for me now, I drank the rinse, and I was quite surprised to actually taste the mint this area is supposedly famous for. It wasn’t subtle either. I honestly did not expect to taste the mint, because that’s what usually happens to me in these situations. Of course my perception could have been influenced by subconsciously expecting mint, but whatever the case, I was still very pleased with just the rinse alone.

The first proper infusion was still reasonably light both in terms of flavor and texture, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. The mint note was still there, but somewhat muted now. The second steep offered more body and was quite a bit stronger and bolder in general. It had a darker green taste and a definitive cooling effect that was present in all of the early steeps.

The next brew was nice and refreshing, like a really nice green tea with some mineral sweetness. At this point I was REALLY feeling the qi, though. It’s not restless or rushy, though, you just feel it affecting your body even if it’s not clear in what way exactly. At this point I was thinking this is a really nice tea. Then I got to the fourth infusion and experienced a nice mouthfeel, but more importantly the most AMAZING throat feel. Even my mother whom I was drinking with commented on it specifically and she’s definitely a tea novice who has never even heard of such a thing as “throat feel”. You could feel the tea along the full length of your throat and the sensation persisted long after you’d swallowed. At this point it was clear that this is a phenomenal tea. I honestly paid close to zero attention to the actual taste in this steep. One could describe it similar to a great green tea with maybe a hint of astringency now.

The fifth steeping was otherwise pretty much your standard fare – green, mineral, astringent – but had an AMAZING, strong returning sweetness. Probably the most notable I’ve experienced. In the sixth steep I was starting to get the mint again. Otherwise the tea was still reminiscent of a really nice green tea. The aftertaste in this infusion was particularly strong and long-lasting. Some very mild underlying bitterness revealed itself if you let the tea cool down. I could really feel the qi building up at this point.

The seventh steep had an incredibly strong mineral sweetness. It wasn’t the sweetest pu’er I’ve drunk, but still shockingly sweet. The next brew offered some nice body and while the flavors were slowly beginning to simplify, the sweetness was still really nice. At this point the qi had built up so much that although I wanted to keep drinking, my drinking nearly ground down to a halt. What I was experiencing wasn’t a bad sensation at all, but I simply felt like I had to slow down or I would drink myself under the table.

The flavors continued to simplify more noticeably in the ninth steep and the tea wasn’t as nice tasting as before. The tea was beginning to become more astringent as well. I did one last steep just to see how the tea would fare and now the soup had become notably more bitter and astringent, although it still wasn’t awful though.

Overall this was a fantastic tea. I’d rank it up there with Bitterleaf’s 2016 Xigui which I was very impressed with, although I think that tea still probably holds a small edge over this one. Regardless, both represent the highest echelon of sheng pu’er that I’ve had the privilege of experiencing so far on my tea journey. Apart from the noticeably larger average leaf size compared to most spring teas, I couldn’t tell this was an autumn tea. While still not cheap, at half the price of the Xigui which is a spring tea, Mint Condition represents a really good value if you are looking for a tea of this caliber, but at a more affordable price. Probably the best of all, this tea is perfectly drinkable right now, while most likely holding great aging potential as well. I ended up ordering a cake based on this session, putting my money where my mouth is. Next I’ll most likely be reviewing Bitterleaf’s 2016 autumn Gua Feng Zhai to make a purchase decision on it as well. You can look forward to that next.

This was a free sample that I received with an order. The bulk of my sample consisted of a large 20g piece of the cake, from which I gently separated 8.7g into my 130ml gaiwan being able to keep any additional breakage at a minimum thanks to the seemingly rather loose compression similar to Bitterleaf’s 2016 Xigui that I reviewed last time. I gave the leaves a brief five second rinse followed by a ten minute rest while I sipped the rinse. The taste was still very light, but quite floral.

I proceeded to do a total of nine infusions, timing for these being 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s and 75s. The flavors themselves in the first steep were light, while the extraction itself was perhaps even a hair on the stronger side. Similar to the rinse, the tea was floral, or at least that’s the only word in my vocabulary to describe it, but also sort of… earthy? The taste reminded me of something food related, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. The steeping that followed was similar. Floral, but also now mineral. It was pretty much a bolder rendition of what had come before.

In the third steep the flavor had advanced. It was now mineral on the front while being metallic in the finish. Again it reminded me of something food related, but something different this time. There was perhaps some mouth cooling going on now as well. While there was less going on in terms of taste in the next infusion, the tea was getting a bit better than before. There was what I perceived as growing astringency, but it lay somewhere between drying and astringent without really being either. The cooling effect was now much more pronounced than before. This steep was nothing amazing, but pretty good.

The fifth brew was softer, brighter, very mineral. There’s still the same sensation at the back of my tongue similar to the last steep and I realize it’s actually bitterness and not astringency that I took it for. I’m so used to most young raw pu’er that I drink being astringent but not bitter, so I often forget that sheng can also be bitter. As the tea cools down, the bitterness becomes much more pronounced.

The tea was finally mildly bitter up front in the sixth infusion while the general taste was still mineral. The bitterness bordered on being almost pleasant. It certainly added to the flavor rather than detracts from it. The finish was perhaps slightly vegetal and the lingering aftertaste it left in your mouth was rather nice. The cooling also made a slight comeback. Quite interestingly, the next steep had a finish similar to the finish of cream. The tea was bitter on the front, but the bitterness went away right after you swallowed. The taste itself was pleasant, but hard to describe beyond that. Nothing spectacular, but not a bad infusion.

Curiously, the bitterness seemed almost absent from the eighth steeping. There was now some more body thanks to the extended brewing time. In place of the bitterness you now got some astringency, which grew in your mouth over time. There isn’t much to say about the taste; the tea was simple, nice. The final infusion I did was notably more bitter than before, so I decided to call it there.

After reviewing Oz, I pretty much set myself up for disappointment no matter what I was going to drink next, because very few teas are going to compare. I found Take My Breath Away to be a decent tea. It’s not the kind of tea I would personally seek to acquire a bing of, but in terms of quality and value it represents about what you’d expect. There are probably people to whom it appeals as it is, but I would expect most people to be seeking to age it. On that front, although I’m hardly anything more than a novice, I have a feeling this tea has good aging potential. The already very manageable bitterness is only desirable in that respect and should serve the tea well along the years. The biggest problem for this tea is that this particular price point of mid-to-high midrange is very competitive and the upper limit of what a lot of people are willing to pay for tea, so they are very careful about what they buy. If you’re not seeking a drink-now tea and have your sights set on this one, give it a shot and see what you think.

After reviewing some raw pu’ers from this spring, I’ve come to the conclusion it’s probably still a bit too early to be evaluating this year’s teas. However, I do believe right around this eighteen month mark is the sweet spot to be drinking teas from spring 2016, so here we go. I got a sample of this tea with my very first order from Bitterleaf so I’ve had it for a few months now. The leaves looks really nice and intact and although I can only speak based on my impressions from the sample the compression seems rather light as I was able to reduce a reasonable-sized chunk on entangled leaves into mao cha with just some prodding and without need to use any force.

I used 8.7g in a 130ml gaiwan and rinsed the leaves briefly for just over five seconds, letting them rest for full ten minutes before proceeding with the brewing. The aroma of the wet leaves isn’t that different to my nose from your typical young sheng, but still somehow the smell was really nice (and continued to be throughout the session) and there was something savory about it that made you wish you could eat the aroma. I did also taste the rinse and ended up drinking all of it. Man, what texture. The tea was thick and viscous, almost like melted chocolate but with some grainy texture as well. The flavors were light in nature, but in terms of strength this was already a proper infusion. The flavors themselves are hard to describe. Maybe you could call it sort of like vegetal milk. More vegetal on the front while the finish reminded me of the finish of milk. Some nice sweetness did also emerge with a delayed effect and the tea really does coat your tongue with its flavor compounds, not going anywhere with time. This I’m not entirely sure of, but there may have been some mouth cooling going on even in this first steep. With just the rinse, this tea was off to a very promising start.

I did a total of eleven infusions in addition to this first steep which I’m going to refer to as the rinse, although in all fairness it deserves to be counted as the first infusion. The timing for these was 5s, 5s, 5s, 7s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 35s, 45s and 50s. Yes, 11/12 steeps and did not break one minute. That should sound promising.

The “first” steep I did was lighter in viscosity than the rinse, but it felt very big in the mouth all the same. The flavors were light in nature (this applies to the tea as a whole), but the tea also tastes really “full” – the flavors don’t seem veiled or distant and seem to communicate with you very directly. Like before, the tea is hard to describe, but very enjoyable, almost buttery. Perhaps I’d call it vegetaly, with maybe some slight good kind of mineraliness. This tea is already making me feel really good! Both the slight mouth cooling and the nice, long aftertaste are still present as well. The aftertaste seems to evolve over time and some sweetness does emerge after a more substantial delay than in the rinse, while the mouth cooling intensifies over time and the aftertaste turns more aromatic in your mouth.

In the second steep the tea is only getting stronger. The flavor has shifted toward a cleaner, more mineraly profile. There’s still plenty of body and the tea is quite warming with the mouth cooling still being present as well. The tea does have a slightly harsher edge to it now, hinting that it’s only going to get more intense in the next steep. There is however not even the slightest hint of astringency or bitterness to be found yet, and this is a spoiler, but I’m going to tell you that I encountered zero of neither over the course of the entire session. I’m going to stop mentioning this for every steep, but this tea’s trademark long-lasting aftertaste was still present as well. For physical effects, this steep made my tongue feel like it was maybe starting to swell a little or start going a little numb.

The Xigui continued to have a very clean profile and nice mouthfeel in the third brew. The tea made me feel good and I could feel a lot of tingling on my tongue. This is clearly a very pure and high-quality tea. The tea has a very nice and calming effect on me. It is very relaxing. As I was sipping the fourth infusions, I felt like it was pointless even trying to describe this tea, it’s just that good. The taste doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it tastes good. This is a very meditative tea. It makes me feel very relaxed and I can feel the tea in my chest and in my body.

In the fifth steep the tea became quite savory, like a nice vegetable broth. The body still continued to be big. The feeling you get from this tea is just amazing, and the aftertaste is just unreal. The savoriness continued in the next steep, with the tea soup being quite filling and satisfying. I’d describe the taste as vegetal with some vegetal sweetness as well. So good.

The tea continued to be impressively big in the mouth even in the seventh steep. While this tea is satisfying in simply how it feels in the mouth, in this steep in particular the sensation you got right as or right after you swallowed was amazing. I’ve never experienced something like that before. As I was drinking this infusion, I thought to myself this might be the best tea I’ve had. It transcends being better than the sum of its parts.

I probably pushed the eighth steep a bit too hard by extending the steeping time by more than five seconds. At this point the tea was beginning to taste more mineraly and less vegetal. This made me assume that we’d entered the late steeps now. The body wasn’t as big or the tea as impressive as before, but that’s okay for steep eight. That’s perfectly fine. The following steep was nicer due to a more appropriate steeping time. It wasn’t as big as before, but the mouthfeel was nice. The flavors were beginning to simplify, validating my assumption that we were in the late steeps now. At this point Oz was beginning to remind me of what most ordinary teas are normally like. There was some nice mineral sweetness in the finish.

I once again pushed the tea a bit too hard for steep ten. My recommendation would be to stick to 5s increments until it doesn’t cut it. The flavor was increasingly mineral now. The strength is still good, but I can only see the tea simplifying from here on out. I decide to do one last infusion for science. The results were rather plain. While the strength was still good and this tea may have gone on for god knows how many more rounds, it wasn’t worth it for me diluting a good session with unnoteworthy infusions at the end. I will note, however, that the aftertaste was nicer than the flavors you got up front and the aftertaste of this tea continued to be unending even in this eleventh steep, twelfth if you count the rinse.

And there you have it. I think it’s needless to say that I found this tea fantastic. I don’t know if it’s the best tea I’ve ever had, but it’s definitely in the top three. Of course that list is going to go through countless changes over the years, but that does not change the fact that this tea is excellent. While this tea is very approachable for practically anyone, its real strengths are likely going to be lost on someone new to tea or even just raw pu’er. The longevity and strength are top-notch and the cha qi is just about the most amiable and pleasant you can expect from a young sheng. The body and aftertaste are exceptional and there is absolutely no bitterness or astringency to be found using my parameters. This tea is ready to drink now, and while there seems to be little to no bitterness or astringency I assume Xigui has a good track record for aging tea. Admittedly I don’t know very much about Xigui, although I probably should.

After the session, I ordered a cake of this tea. I can’t really give a tea a higher recommendation than that. I actually wanted to buy two, but ultimately I refrained, because justifying to myself buying two was a lot harder than just the one. I’d rather go for more diversity and this way I’ll treasure what little I have all the more. If you are asking yourself is this tea worth the price, my answer is to order a sample and discern that for yourself. I think this tea is worth top dollar, but it is up to each person how much exactly a tea is worth to them. In any case, well done, Bitterleaf, well done!

My second Hai Lang Hao. I really enjoyed their 2015 Bulang brick, so I was excited to try this one. I’m no expert on ripe pu’er, but looking at the sample I received, the quality of the material looks good – small leaves with plenty of hairy golden buds. I used 11 grams in my 160ml Jianshui clay teapot and after rinsing the leaves once for ten seconds I let the moisture soak in for ten minutes before I began brewing. I did a total of nine infusions, for 9s, 9s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s and 2 min.

The first steep brewed a murky pale red. The taste was kind of there, but both the flavors and texture were still light. Normally one rinse is enough for me with shu pu’er, but for this tea I would recommend two quick rinses while it’s still young at least. This steep was still more of a wash than a proper brew. The second steep produced a much darker red. The flavor was much bolder as well. However, the texture was still rather light for a shu pu’er. The taste is hard to describe. Maybe you could call it a sort of weird mineraly taste. The finish was reminiscent of the finish of not so great coffee. It wasn’t exactly bitter, but neither was it quite clenching either.

The next steeping finally offered some more body. The taste wasn’t bitter, but more like sour, drying coffee, while the finish had a roasted note to it. The fourth steep was again a bit thinner, maybe a bit cleaner, but otherwise there wasn’t too much change. The flavors started to now shift more towards raw chocolate without any sweetness. A bit of sweetness did finally emerge in the fifth infusion. The flavor still had a dry quality to it (dry, not drying), which had been prevalent in the tea up to this point.

The sixth steep was softer both in taste and texture. It had a gorgeous velvety mouthfeel and incredibly creamy taste with a mineral tinge to it. I was really surprised by this infusion. That mouthfeel, man, and that finish, so nice. The tea was drying, gripping in a good way, making you want to drink more. There was also a slightly refreshing, palate cleansing quality to it. Damn. The steep that followed shared some of these qualities. It had the creaminess, but now combined with a bright, zesty flavor of red berries. These berries persisted in the aftertaste. These two infusions were really good.

I was taken back to being less impressed by the eighth infusion. The taste was now more mineraly, with only hints of the prior creaminess remaining. The taste did however become fuller as you kept drinking the tea and it left small deposits on your tongue, enhancing the flavor. Due to time, the ninth steep was the last one I did. It did feel it was appropriate to stop there, though. While I was still getting the mineraly, creamy taste, the flavors seemed to be starting to become thinner and continuing would have probably been just stretching out the tea.

After the session, I felt really lethargic and a couple hours later incredibly tired. Shu pu’ers do tend to be more calming and grounding than energizing in my experience, but this was probably the most lethargic any tea has ever made me. I literally didn’t want to do anything and once the tiredness hit me it felt like I needed to be in bed that instant. Tea is of course going to affect people differently, but the person I was drinking with experienced the same thing, so I would advice some caution when drinking this tea. Maybe have the first session with it at home where it’s not a huge issue if you don’t feel like doing anything for the rest of the evening.

So what are my thoughts on this tea? I must admit my expectations were high because of how good the Bulang brick was and I ended up liking it more than this one. Apart from the two really good infusions, this tea wasn’t quite my cup of tea. It is still quite young and might improve a lot over time, so I don’t want to be too judgmental. While I think the 2015 Bulang represents good value for money, this Lao Man’e at more than 60% higher price doesn’t quite justify its price tag right now. I’d place this tea in the ‘potential’ category. While the Bulang brick is good to drink now, this one needs more time to mature. I’d say try it in a year or two, if it’s still available.

Edit: I had a second session with this tea and have included my thoughts below in one of the comments.

It is not often that I drink sheng as mao cha, in fact this is only the second time I’ve done so. As the ‘young’ in the name of this tea suggests, it is aimed specifically for drinking young, so I was very interest to try it out. Because of being targeted in such a specific manner, I’ll be evaluating it based solely on its merits right now without taking into consideration any aging potential like I would normally do.

I’ve had the open bag hydrating in my pumidor for a few weeks. That’s not necessarily as much time as I typically give other raws, but since this is aimed at immediate consumption one would expect it to perform at least adequately. I used 9.35g in my 140ml gaiwan and gave the leaves a ten second rinse followed by a ten minute rest. This was followed by nine infusions, the timing for which being 6s, 6s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s and 2 min. respectively.

I was very surprised by how light the first infusion was. It wasn’t necessarily weak, but the flavors were very light and thin. I’m not sure if the tea was actually watery per se, but the flavor profile at least was very close to water. There were some young sheng flavors present and the tea was hinting at bitterness and astringency without actually being there yet. At this point I wasn’t really sure what to think of the tea so far. The second steep was still very light, but not very pleasant. The tea was losing body now. Up to this point I’d been using my standard boiled water that I always use for sheng, but starting with the next steep I decided to switch to the vendor’s recommended 95°C to see what that does.

The change in temperature didn’t bring much change in the third steep. The tea was a bit softer, but it was starting to taste nasty to me, which can happen with some raw pu’ers this young. The taste was generally quite mineraly, with perhaps some very minor underlying sweetness. Once the tea cooled it started to taste bitter. The next steep didn’t bring much change. The taste was starting to be quite metallic albeit overall the tea was less nasty than before. Although subtle, I noticed some cooling in my airways as a result from this steep.

Sipping the fifth infusion, I noticed this tea doesn’t really have the green and astringent character often prevalent in young raws, but instead it features a dominantly mineraly character with a slight tinge to it that I personally find unappealing. After extending the steeping time a bit more for the sixth infusion, the tea now had a soft texture to it. Taste-wise it was virtually identical to the last steep. It did however have a slightly mood-elevating effect.

Pushing the tea again just a bit harder for the seventh steep, there was now finally some more body to the soup. While the tea was still very mineraly, I noticed that it was beginning to taste less nasty, or perhaps I was just starting to get used to the taste. The issue is that I’m not generally a very big fan of mineral tasting teas, so it wasn’t really doing it for me. The tea was however beginning to put me in an elevated yet calm state. I also started feeling some tingling at the back of my head and behind my ears.

The eighth steep was a lot thinner than I’d expected. It had an interestingly bright taste. While it was slightly metallic, it also hinted at perhaps some fruitiness and maybe even some slight sweetness. At this point the tea started to be a bit drying on the tongue. The ninth infusion was the last one I did. I perhaps pushed the tea a bit too far too early and the resulting soup tasted a bit nasty. It wasn’t that bad but still. Still, I decided to call it here. I’m sure the tea could have gone on for likely several more infusions, but I felt I’d seen enough and wasn’t interested enough to see what else the tea had to offer at this juncture. Strength-wise the tea was still going strong, so I expect it had many infusions in it still. I’ll be getting a smaller gaiwan (~60ml) very soon, which should make sessioning these teas a lot easier and faster. Hopefully for the next review I’ll already have it.

My thoughts on this tea are mixed. I didn’t really see much reason to be drinking it for the taste, but perhaps there’s a way to brew it that makes it tastier than the way I brewed it. The mouthfeel was rather disappointing for most of the steeps, but when pushed a little it did improve in a couple of the steeps. The longevity seems excellent, but the real saving grace for me is the calm, gentle qi. This tea doesn’t have any of the intense rushiness that many young gushus tend to have, instead it is very pleasant and subtle. I could still feel the tea affecting me some time after the session and the sensation was rather pleasant while it lasted.

I’m glad I didn’t abandon this one halfway through, but I don’t think the qi alone is enough to salvage the tea. Despite how it’s marketed, I am going to save the rest of the bag for later and give the tea a few more months before I try it again. I think at least right now the tea is rather dull, but perhaps I was expecting too much. Had this tea cost more per gram than it does or not had the qi, I would have given it a negative rating, but for now I’m rating it as barely neutral. Perhaps there’s a way to brew this tea that yields better results or perhaps it will improve with some more time in the pumidor. Either way, if I manage to brew this tea in a significantly different way, I will do a follow-up review. If not, then I won’t.

Edit: I’ve had another session with this tea and changed my rating from neutral to not recommended as a result. See the comment I’ve left below for more.

I was fortunate enough to receive a free 20g sample of this tea with a teaware order. I used 11 grams in my 160ml Jianshui clay teapot and after rinsing the tea for under ten seconds and letting the leaves rest for twenty minutes I proceeded to do a total of nine infusions. The timing for these was around 12s, 12s, 15s, 17s, 22s, 30s, 45s, 75s and 2 min. according to my mental clock.

The first steep brewed a dark, murky red. The tea was… interesting, different. It carried a certain mature confidence about it. The tea had strength, but expressed itself in subtle ways. The taste was that of wood and bark, with maybe a faint hint of chocolate. Some of the typical shu sweetness was already present as well. The flavor lingers in a pleasant way. For a first steep this was very promising.

The second steep brewed darker as is to be expected. The tea was smooth, tasting of woody cacao. The soup wasn’t that viscous, but it felt big in the mouth. Again the aftertaste lingers nicely even though it’s subtle. The tea was very drinkable and had a nice calming effect that made you want to stop and take a moment for yourself. The next steep brewed even darker and was the best infusion up to that point. Words cannot really express what was great about it. It’s not the taste that made it shine; it’s more of a feeling. Attempting to describe it in terms of simple flavor notes and other such things would be doing a disservice to the tea, so I will refrain from doing so. I will simply say that it was very good.

The tea started to get sweeter in the fourth steep. It was very pleasant to drink and felt slightly warming as well as still quite calming. I was beginning to feel the qi. The tea started to get simpler in the next steep, which felt somewhat premature. It was still quite nice, with maybe the faintest note of dark cherry, but not as nice as before. The flavors continued to get lighter in the following steep, but despite this the tea was still in a place where many other shus would be happy to be at this stage. I could still detect some small hints of qi.

For the seventh steep I pushed the tea a bit harder and this brought some life back into it. It still wasn’t complex in terms of flavor, but boasted a very full taste to it once more. There was perhaps a roasted note to this steep, especially in the finish. Despite extending the time by full thirty seconds for the eighth steep, the tea brewed a lot thinner than I’d expected. It was also super simple now despite still brewing reasonably dark. The taste was slightly woody with mostly basic sweetness. It wasn’t weak, however.

The ninth steep was the last one I did. To my surprise it brewed stronger again, with a bolder, darker flavor instead of the basic sweetness from before. I’m assuming the tea could have still gone on, but I decided that I’d most likely seen most of what it had to offer so I decided to call it here. I was sessioning this tea alone and nine pots of tea was more than enough tea for me.

Shu pu’er is a category of tea I still struggle with. Crimson Lotus’s Lucky Cloud was the first one I ever liked and that one is from Jingmai material. This one also being from Jingmai material, but from older trees and with more age on it, I was excited to try it. I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. This marks the third ripe pu’er I can say I genuinely like. I like the flavor profile, but at the same time the strengths of this tea lie elsewhere. I could be influenced by knowing the age of this tea, but this feels like the first shu where I can actually taste the age on it and this one isn’t even that old. Looking at the leaves at the end of the session, they aren’t totally black but instead a dull brown, which based on what I’ve heard would indicate that they haven’t been fully fermented and there’s still some room for the tea to evolve. Even though this is already seven years old, I see potential in it to improve. I’m not sure about the exact longevity of this tea, but I’d say I didn’t push it quite enough in some of my steeps past the first few. It came across as rather forgiving, so I’d probably recommend pushing it a bit too much rather than cutting it short, but this tea tastes great almost regardless of how you brew it.

I ordered a cake of this based on this session, so if you’re looking for a recommendation, I can’t do much better than that. The only issue here is the price. Is this tea worth the price? If ripe pu’er is a very casual tea for you, then maybe not. If you are looking for something special, however, this might be what you’re looking for. Order a sample and taste for yourself.

Edit: Based on my recent experiences with this tea, I’ve decided to change my original rating from recommended to neutral. You can read more on my current thoughts in a comment below.