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4g in Gaiwan.
Dry leaf: Concentrated herbyness; loose compression: the chunks pry apart by hand. They are colourful.
Wet leaf: Immersed in tobacco smoke; concentrated herbyness; fruit.
Summary: Someone call the fire brigade. There is some apricot. Even a glass of water is not enough to put the fire out.
Advisory: I recommend drinking water along with this tea, as it is quite strong.
As the description says, this is one powerful tea. Also something about it being intended for longer term aging…
5s – I feel the weight of the soft apricot, amongst foreground smoke, push down into my abdomen. The smoke, which is considerably thick, and some of the fruit, remains in the mouth after the swallow. Dramatic.
10s – Apricots and stone fruits. The smoke swells in the mouth, at the back of the throat, after the swallow, that it seems sensible to open the mouth to let it escape.
15s – This tea is interesting in that it is in between a mild floral and a heavy/bold tea. Post note: The subtle fruit gets swamped by the smoke.
20s – The fruit and the smoke are inseparable and the thick smoke is relentless.
25s – Even a glass of water is not enough to put the fire out.

4 g Gaiwan.

Dry leaf: Med/high compression; dark leaves.
Wet leaf: Complex. Dark and citrus fruits sit on top of a smouldering straw dark base.

Summary: Bitter sweet lemons, which is interesting in flavour and experience.

So this is high mountain pu erh, grown in the remotest gardens in Yunnan. I’ll remember that when I’m drinking it.

5s – It has a similar bright crisp sweetness that Taiwanese High Mountain Dayuling Oolong has. Slightly lemony; very faint smoke. It makes me feel refreshed, and it gives a droning light buzz as it lingers after the swallow. Dido singing Stan has come into my head.
10s – Pale yellow liquor. Thick syrupy mouthfeel. Edging towards honey and lemon cough medicine. It has a steady flavour profile, with good body and a lingering finish, which stimulates the top of my head and behind my ears.
I’m seeing similarities to Hai Lang Hao “Cha Wang” 2010 by Yunnan Sourcing, which is nearly 8 times the price; however, this tea does not have amongst other things the complex layering I observed in the Cha Wang.
15s – Spritely lemon, bitter lemon bitterness, oscillating between sweet and bitter on the finish, sometimes drying.
20s – It develops intensity, even though it is a delicately flavoured floral tea and at times the experience is stronger than the flavour of the tea.
25s – Enjoyable; smooth’ish.
40s – Bitter sweet lemony.
Note: This tea came free with my first order from Yunnan Sourcing – thanks!
A previous session with this tea failed; most likely due to the new kettle. It went like this: 2 rinses, then 30 minutes rest with the lid ajar. Tasted off; abandoned notes for this session.

4g in Gaiwan.

Dry leaf: Mostly loose and is colourful like White2Tea New Amerykah 2. It has some concentrated herbyness, but this is mild.
Wet leaf: This is slightly subdued concentrated herbyness with some dust and some spice.

Summary: Softly fruity (raisins/apricots), slightly smoky, with some bitterness creates a level of friction, which makes this a stimulating and interesting tea to drink.

5s – Slightly smoky, mild in flavour, has a pleasant soft fruitiness like 2007 White2Tea Repave by White2Tea.
10s – Aroma of the liquid has a soft Yiwu-like fruitiness. Bitterness and astringency makes this softly fruity, slightly smoky tea more interesting.
15s – Liquor is orangey. It has a syrupy consistency; it feels thick in the mouth. It’s edging towards a certain type of fruit – raisins and apricots.
20s – It’s not a strongly flavoured tea, but it is mildly fruity with some bitterness.

I had a second session with this tea, this time with a hot curry (Madras), and although the tea is fairly mild in flavour, it was not overpowered by the curry and cut through with a bitter, slightly smoky, raisin like fruitiness, which was enough to raise my appreciation of this tea.

This tea, I believe, is another name for Dong Ding. Now that’s a tea I have tried, albeit, only once and really enjoyed it. It was in my favourite tea shop and was loose leaf, whereas this is in teabag form. I have already reviewed Whittards Tong Ting (a box of 15 tea bags) and found them pleasant enough. However, here I have only had one tea bag, and it was a couple of days ago now, so I only have a vague memory of the tea and no notes to aid this review.

Anyhow, I found the tea to be on the lighter side of flavour; it had a relatively short burst of fresh greenness, and was generally quite mild. I would say it’s not as good as the Whittards version, but who knows, my opinion of it may change if I ever decide to purchase a box of this.

One pyramid teabag used.
I have been wanting to try this tea for some time, but either it never happened to be in a tea shop that sold it or they had another tea that I choose instead. Anyhow, having drunk several different green tea bags for years, mainly at work, I was pleasantly surprised at how good this tasted.
This tea has a fresh, mild, grassy, seaweed flavour early in the steep before becoming fuller and – pardon my only trying this tea once in another tea shop – similar to Dragonwell, which unlike any other green tea I have come across so far, has an unusual aniseed/metallic flavour. I also thought of a very light version of sencha, with only a bit of that seaweed taste.

1999 HUA YUAN “JING BRAND” RAW PU-ERH TEA CAKE

7g used.
Summary: This tea is highly compressed, and I found I had to break it up (with a spoon) to allow the full flavours to come out. With this tea being a mixture of raw (half fermented) and ripe pu-erh, it gives an interesting mix swaying between two teas but also combines together at other times. Highlights include a metallic taste and the depth and creaminess it develops in later steeps.
Dry leaf: Looks like cooked purer, only slightly lighter. The aroma is hay.
Wet leaf: It smells like a ripe purer with some raw pu-erh; it is lightly floral and herby. However once it cools, it smells quite different: it is creamy and smooth with some wood shavings.
My thoughts are: will dark creamy cooked pu-erh go together well with bright, sharp raw pu-erh or will it be like putting milk in green tea? (I did that once and couldn’t drink it)
5s – The aroma is mostly of ripe pu-erh, although with the rawness, it smells like hot raspberries/rhubarb crumble (dark fruit contrasting with sweet sugariness). Liquor is pale brown. It taste like sheng towards the end of a session when the full body has gone. There are hints of the raw, but only faintly. I wouldn’t describe this as complex.
10s – Slightly darker, pale brown. Aroma has soil and warm pastry. Tastes like a mild ripe pu-erh with some fruit.
1 minute – I brewed it for longer as it wasn’t giving much flavour. Darker browny red. Still mild ripe with a bit of fruit.
20s – (Stabbed it with a spoon and found it was quite hard). Liquor is dark brown and looks ready for drinking. It is refreshing, creamy, but not warm milk creamy. It has a metallic taste that makes it interesting.
30s – Now it’s there. A marriage of ripe and raw pu-erh; concentrated herbyness takes on a dark, complex direction I’ve not tasted before. The raw pu-erh now dominates.
40s – Back to ripe pu-erh again. Will it make it’s mind up? A fruity ripe, with bite and some complexity. (I stabbed it with a spoon some more) Dark brown now – darkest yet. There is friction between the ripe and raw; there is depth, boldness and bite. Stimulating.
60s – Hints of White2Teas 90s Hong Kong, but more mellow. This tea is still going strong.

Summary: Yes this tea has the concentrated herbyness I associate with Menghai, but it’s a bit on the mild side. I much preferred the Menghai Dayi 2007 “V4” from Berylleb on ebay.

4g used. I could only find 24gs of my 25g order…

Dry leaf: Complex: concentrated herbyness and peppery smoke.
Wet leaf: Complex: Concentrated herbyness, bright fruits, peppery smokiness and dark plums.

5s – Mild greenness and smoky.
15s – Still a bit mild. Smoky, mild herbyness; The flavour is in the background and not very strong.
20s – Subdued concentrated herbyness and smoke. Lingering peppery smoke.
25s – Stronger. More pronounced concentrated herbyness and peppery smoke.

7g used.
Loose compression; the appearance reminds me of White2Tea New Amerykah 2.
Nothing exciting. Ok if you want something mellow and simple.
The dry leaf has a light aroma with some concentrated herbyness.
The wet leaf aroma is subdued concentrated herbyness beneath a plum/cinder toffee sweetness. No smoke. It is a mild aroma with some complexity,
5s – It is fruity, thick and syrupy. No concentrated herbyness here; just sweet, almost cough medicine with some smoke, a little bitterness and some astringency.
10s – Some spiciness. Plummy, sweet; it makes the mouth water.
15s – It is pleasant but nothing spectacular, at the moment.
20s – It is refreshing and juicy.

Re-saved as the link was not working anymore.

2010 HAI LANG HAO “CHA WANG” YI WU ANCIENT ARBOR RAW PU-ERH TEA
4g used.
Note#1: My notes from 25s on will need confirming in a further session, as I’m not convinced the sweetness came from the tea alone.
The dry leaf is loose leaf. I guess a 10g chunk was not possible. This tea is expensive at $12.50/£7.98 for a 10g sample.
The wet leaf: Wow. Lemon on top; concentrated fruit underneath. When I say ‘on top’ I mean the aroma is layered in a way I have not come across before. Very complex. Citrus fruits, plums. I was tentative about brewing this, as it is so expensive. I only ordered 10 grams, hence the small amount of leaf used. I was pleasantly surprised to find 11 grams in my sample; wow, an extra one gram . The aroma shares some notes with the 2008 XIAGUAN “DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER”, but this does not have the mushroom direction. As it cools it has strawberries, lemons, light concentrated herbyness and no smoke.
The rinse was a clear, pale orange; at this price, I was tempted to drink this.

5s – Here goes. Liquor is very light yellow and very clear. Amazing. Liquor is thick, syrupy, lemony – very similar to 2013 YUNNAN SOURCING “WU LIANG YE SHENG”. Notes of honey and lemon cough medicine.
10s – Liquor is pale yellow; the same as for a Dayuling high mountain Oolong. Soft, sweet, with a long ‘ringing’ finish.
15s – This tea is subtle. It requires focus and attention. The flavour is light. The empty cup smells of honey and lemon cough medicine.
20s – Subtle. Light fruits, not so strong on the lemon. This tea is one to drink in silence to appreciate.
25s – Spice – where did that come from? Punchy with a sugary sweet after taste that fades away. Interesting: this tea makes the mouth water, the sweetness then increases to a dry sugary sweetness, then it settles down, finally leaving a dry sugary sweetness. This sweetness remained for up to a minute afterwards – a dry sugary sweetness in the mouth and teeth. Intriguing.
30s – Not so subtle now. It has a bold sweetness that leaves a dry sugary sweetness on the swallow. It’s like I’m drinking tea with sugar in.
35s – Liquor is almost clear with faint yellow. Crystal sweetness; chlorine is appearing. This cannot be attributed to tap water, as I used bottle water.

2008 MENGHAI QI ZI ZHI GE RIPE PU-ERH
7g used.
I’ve had quite a few ripe pu erhs before, but never tried one from Menghai, plus it was highly recommended on TeaDB, so I was looking forward to trying this.
Dry leaf is fishy, but I’m confident this will be good. Fried bacon too.
Wet leaf is interesting; it has a different aroma to what I usually get from ripe pu erh. It is creamy and slightly fishy, but it has a darker base, which is like bacon after it has been fried and gone crispy.

5s – Liquor is dark brown. Aroma is mildly creamy. Flavour is smooth, creamy with some milk chocolate. It has a slightly dry finish, which is unusual. It is not as creamy as 2002 CNNP (Zhong Cha) 7572 Green Label Tiepai Ripe, so far.
10s – Liquor is very dark brown. It is quite light on flavour, and not as smooth as it was in the first steep. It has some complexity.
15s – Liquor is darker brown. I expect the full flavour now. A very dark cherry-like sweetness sits on top of a darker base, which increases intensity on the swallow. Creamy and smooth again.
20s – It is creamy and chocolaty, but not as full bodied creamy as the White2Tea. The finish is odd; it stops short instead of lingering. There is some slight bitterness in the swallow. Not straightforward.
25 – Liquor is brown/black. Lightly creamy with some bitterness. Colour suggests full flavour, but it has lost it’s boldness.
35s – Liquor is brown/black. Better. It has a good bite; fruity; raisins.

Overall, it is a solid ripe pu erh, but nothing exceptional. There is very little fishiness left in it.