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Quite flavorfull and thick for an autumn tea. Shows just how far good terroire goes I s’pose… Creamy body, sweet, cooling, sharp kuwei, notes of stone fruits. Also notable- these are some of the biggest, most beautiful, most intact leaves I’ve ever seen in a pu-cake.

Talk about an underpriced tea- this is real, quality aged sheng stored in a traditional environment. Soup is thick and dark, with intense sweetness and enduring aftertaste. It is suggestive of sweet dried dates, antique leather and ginseng. This would make a valuable addition to any puerh aficionado’s library.

This is one of my very favorite teas. Incredibly complex, with notes of white grapes, fresh leather and sweet grass. It is thick, has light bitterness and an enduring fruity/flowery fragrance in the throat (which sounds weird to say). My only complaint is that the initial flavors don’t last much longer than five steepings, but then there’s plenty of grass/mineral/bitterness from six on.

I enjoyed this one quite a lot. It is suggestive of deep green stewed vegetables, or dank moss, somewhat like a Japanese green tea but with a thicker body and strong bitterness. Indeed, it is not a ‘sweet tea’, but it has a smoothness, complexity and depth that is not easily matched by other puerhs. It has conventional Menghai character in its tobacco and malt flavors, but is not overtly fruity like the Milk, Cream and Alcohol is. Instead, it tends much more towards dark green flavors noted above. I’d recommend at least sampling this guy.

I have to say that this tea is excellent for its price. I’ve been liking Spring/Autumn blends lately, this one particularly seems to capture some of the best of both, with the strength and energy of a Spring tea and the mellow mouth-filling sweetness of an Autumn. I’d say that it has notes of tobacco, grains, and dry fruit. Also it seems to be aging well, with its lower wood/smoke flavors becoming more pronounced each time I drink it. With plenty of complexity and staying power, and at $41 for a fat 400g cake, there’s not really anything to complain about here…

edit: This tea continues to develop smokier, earthier, and more textured nuances. It almost reminds me of a glass of Laphroaig Scotch- smokey, peaty, and sweet. Scott seems to have selected this material for aging very wisely…

This is quite good, highly fragrant, powerful and energizing. The tea is thick and bitter with (what I understand to be) classic Menghai character- fruit, tobacco, wild nettles (with the fruit tending towards pineapple imho). Definitely rough on the stomach right now, but young sheng drinkers aren’t sissies, so who gives a crap? The tea is cheap and good.

I found this tea to be quite soft-spoken, and of an exceptional quality. The body is thick, oily, with medium (and fast) bitterness. There is a sweet and lingering aftertaste, notes of stinky flowers, sweet cereal grains and olive oil. I suspect this comes from somewhere in or around Bing Dao, but what do I know?

I found this tea to be surprisingly outstanding. The first time I broke into it I was suffering from a sore throat, and found the crisp bitterness to be highly soothing and refreshing. Paul wrote on his page that his target was sweetness, which is certainly present in its intense fruit-flavors, but I find its persistent bitterness to be the highlight of the show. Powerful, complex and refreshing, this is an excellent exemplar of gushu Bulang terroir that doesn’t break the bank.

This tea has improved quite a bit over the course of a year. When I first broke into it, it brewed a bit green and the flavors were somewhat thin; as of today though it brews thick gold, and has fragrant notes of sandal wood, raisins and wet clay. The large amount of long stipes included in this cake seem to add to the sweetness. If I were to complain about anything, it doesn’t have a whole lot going on in the huigan department, most of the flavors seem to be more up-front on the palate.

Edit: so reviewing sheng is a bit awkward because, well, it changes over time, for better or worse. In this case better. What began as a pleasant, sweet and viscous yet otherwise unremarkable puerh cake has aged quite well over the summer. It has grown a shade darker, and its flavor reflects this, with a pungent, almost meaty, floral/fruity taste. Drinking it today, I found it to be thick, dark and brothy, with face-melting bitterness and cha qi. I might have to pick an extra one of these up for long-term storage…