Mei Leaf
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Flamed lemon peel, quince, sweetness, pleasant minerality and bitterness. As odd as it sounds I can also smell homemade ljutenica – something I didn’t expect to get in a tea but it’s just a hint and it brings back good memories.
Flavors: Lemon Zest, Mineral, Roasted, Sweet
Preparation
The wet leaves do have the smell of damp autumn day in the forest, wet caves and burnt paper, but the taste is super clean. I didn’t get any of the sweet stuff though. I should give it another try.
Flavors: Paper, Wet Earth, Wet Rocks, Wet Wood
Preparation
Sweet floral explosion. Incredible rich and buttery creaminess. Some lingering saltiness (that’s a first for me). And of course the egg custard. So much going on. Just amazing…
Flavors: Butter, Creamy, Custard, Floral, Salty, Sweet
Preparation
Still getting my palate used to puerhs. There’s definitely the wet earthy note. I also get the magnolia in the aftertaste, and the sweetness and the olive oil throat sensation.
Flavors: Floral, Sweet, Wet Earth
Preparation
There is the initial minerality but it’s less pronounced when you take out the smaller particles and keep the brewing times short. Apricot preserves, vanilla pudding, honey and linden blossom.
Flavors: Apricot, Flowers, Honey, Mineral, Rice Pudding, Vanilla, Wood
Preparation
First raw puerh I’ve tried. The first two or three infusions have a very strong initial minerality with wood and leather on the nose. This tones down on subsequent infusions. For me it’s the finish that is really interesting – pronounced lingering sweetness of honey, strawberry and apricot preserves, a hint of flowers and linden blossom.
Flavors: Apricot, Floral, Honey, Jam, Leather, Mineral, Strawberry, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
Cracked cardamom pods, cooling mint, pistachios, strawberries, cold rocks, and a greeness like eating a dandelion stem. And when it hits the back of your throat incredible sweetness like raw honey.
Flavors: Astringent, Camphor, Cardamom, Dandelion, Honey, Nuts, Strawberry
Dark and mysterious. The infused leaves have a charcoal smell to them, which carries over into the tea soup, which is creamy and thick, with notes of charcoal, burnt toffee, high-octane raw chocolate, coffee beans and raw cocoa. Very much to my liking.
Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Cocoa, Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Toffee
Preparation
Brewing notes:
Brewed gongfu style, 10g in 200 ml Yixing pot, 95C. First infusion 15 seconds, +5 thereafter. Flash rinsed before brewing.
Sensory details:
Honestly, in terms of flavor, all I can say is “umami.” I do not have a sophisticated or developed tea palate. The liquor was thick and almost syrupy. The last drop clung to my glass Gong Dao Bei like it didn’t want to let go. The color of the liquor approximated soy sauce, or a Medoc wine.
The experience:
At first, I was sipping, trying doggedly to dredge up details for a proper tasting review. By the fifth infusion, I was like, “Rack ‘em up, bartender!” and belting down shots. This would be an awesome tea to drink with a rare filet mignon. After the sixth infusion, I decided to take a break, and will pick it up again this evening. After roughly 1.2 liters of this tea, I feel like I’ve just had really good sex. You know, muscles loose, mind cleaned out.
Second tea tested in my sample pack!
~3g, 110mL, ~185F. + Wash
Wet leaf aroma: Very fruity and a tad bit smokey. You can definitely smell those peach notes!
Texture: Very smooth but also rather thick. Another reviewer said it has a umami note to it, but for me personally there is no umami notes in this tea. It’s just very smooth and thick, which can seem to be that very “savory” taste that one would associate with umami.
The flavour is rather interesting. Again, very strong peach flavour as well as a perfume flavour on the initial ‘hit’. The aftertaste manifests itself strongly as peach with more fruity notes.
At first I was wondering why someone says this has a celery note, but that would be another way of classifying that initial “perfume” note that you can taste.
Following the first steep, the main flavour body tastes like peach and now like a bit of applesauce as well. What’s neat is the empty cup smell, smells pretty much just like butterscotch… It really almost smells like sugar is really in that cup but it’s empty, it’s just the aroma!
For those tasting this tea, I would say you have to be very attentive of steeping time. Too much and you get strong perfume and celery notes, which eclipses the peachy and fruity notes,
As a summation, this is a rather decent dancong with very strong peach notes, with accompanied applesauce + roasted apple taste, with a strong perfume and celery flavoured front. Like fruity oolongs and want a peachy one? This is your tea.
Flavors: Apple, Celery, Peach, Perfume, Smoke
Preparation
Got this from the mei leaf sample box. Despite it being green tea, lots of the leafs have been kinda crumbled and I thought that would be detrimental, but damn this tea is great.
Prep: 5g to 110mL, @200F
No wash.
The wetleaf aroma is an absolutely amazing roasted hazlenut. I made some very unmanly sounds smelling it, absolutely fantastic.
First steep tastes like hazlenuts with roasted seaweed. Lots and lots of umami. A bit of a dryness on the tip of the tongue, but none of the astringency in the back of your throat. Really delightful. In fact, my whole room also now smells like roasted hazlenuts!
Oh man that second infusion, it literally gave me shivers. The umami is so incredibly strong, it’s just incredibly savory. This tea excites the salivary glands massively!
I haven’t tasted any particular change in flavour on further infusions, just that this is a tea for umami lovers. Really, just a stimulating experience all around
This is my first tea from mei leaf and I have to say that their description on their page is perfect, all the way down to the amount of infusions you can get from gongfu. I find this to be pretty rare from most tea suppliers, but their description is practically perfect. You can expect 7 infusions from this tea.
Very good tea and an absolute must-have for a umami lover. Well done Mei Leaf, well done.
Flavors: Chocolate, Hay, Hazelnut, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Seaweed, Umami
Preparation
Brewed gong fu style in a gaiwan, 205F, 20 seconds initial infusion. Dry leaves heavy on the cherry notes. Gaiwan lid sniff after first infusion came back with cherry and toasted almond flavors. Very brisk and astringent in initial infusions, it mellowed out to a smooth, rich nuttiness over time. I probably could’ve gotten a couple more infusions out of it, but I felt myself hitting the caffeine wall.
Amazing thing about this tea is the aftertaste. An hour later, I’m still breathing through my mouth to savor it. It’s like walking though the woods in autumn, kicking up dead leaves with each step. This is the kind of tea you want to drink when you feel lonely, disconnected or anxious. It embraces you.