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__Morgana__ drank 2013 Yunnan Sourcing Autumn Mang Fei Raw Pu-erh tea cake by Yunnan Sourcing

2036 tasting notes

I got this as a sample when I ordered some yixing pots from Yunnan Sourcing a while back. The dry tea smells very much of hay.

I’m a little nervous about being the only non-full fledged pu erh aficionado to write a note about this one. I’m such a n00b compared to the two experts on this page.

But nevertheless, I persist. I rinsed and let this sit for 15 minutes+ before steeping in the gaiwan at boiling: 5/5/7/7/10/10/20/30/40/60

The tea starts out a little pale yellow but gets darker to a sort of medium to light butter-lemon color that is clear.

The aroma reminds me of the taste of chocolate covered raisins — a little dried fruity, a little cocao-white chocolatey.

That’s a note I’ve been getting a lot from sheng and that I continue to find surprising. How can something that light in color have that sort of flavor? Maybe I’m the problem.

I’m finding a lot of the shengs I try to be quite awesome. I can’t remember the last time I had so many 90+ ratings.

Maybe it’s the novelty?

Flavors: Chocolate, Coffee, Hay, Raisins, Toffee, White Chocolate

Preparation

Boiling

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4 comments

mrmopar
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You are a fine reviewer.

derk
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Agreed! Keep em coming. I’m a firm believer in doing your thing. Gotta have a variety of personalities and reviews to keep it interesting ;) After all, taste is subjective. I find it interesting that you’ve been getting white/chocolate notes in sheng.

Kawaii433
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Yes, keep them coming please :D

__Morgana__
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White chocolate, I know, right? Weird that it keeps showing up. I started mostly getting linen cloth and then one day it all went to buttery cocoa.

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mrmopar
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You are a fine reviewer.

derk
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Kawaii433
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Yes, keep them coming please :D

__Morgana__
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White chocolate, I know, right? Weird that it keeps showing up. I started mostly getting linen cloth and then one day it all went to buttery cocoa.

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Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes