"Wild Monk" Raw Pu'er-2014

I enjoyed a smokiness in first couple of steeps.
Started to notice some oak, ash, maybe tobacco, and yes some bitterness.
Giving some time between steeps helped notice some apricot aftertaste, but not as forward as in other raw pu’ers. Some butter also in aftertaste, but subtle. I had tried this tea a few years ago as a sample, and I still have a bit left, so am trying again. Am being cautious not to drink too much because some reviews note its potent chi, and I recollect that as well from a few years ago. For me, it is an interesting tea to try, especially as I imagine the high altitude and pristine environment from where it came.

Here’s my first foray into the abyss of a tea gift box Kawaii433 sent. Thank you!

I brewed 5g in a 100mL gaiwan with 205F water for 10 steeps at 10/15/20/25/30/40/50/60/75/90s.

The dry leaf was loose in the bag and very dark with a burgundy tinge. It smelled warm with a note of campfire smoke. Rinsing brought out a spicy note along with cherry wood, osmanthus and butter. The first steep started off smokey, a little bitter on the sip. Fruity flavors of apricot and berries presented in the back of the mouth along with osmanthus and a stronger bitterness. The first few steeps had an astringency in the throat. The liquor left aftertastes of apricot and a light concord grape. As the steeps progressed, the tea became more bitter, the kind of bitterness that might make one cringe. The dominant taste/aftertaste was a generic citric or malic acid tartness which was strongest in the back of the mouth along with a hint of smoke and some wood. The bitterness maintained until the end, at which point some butter came forward.

Overall, the tea early on had those fruity flavors I’ve gotten in purple-leaf teas before but those tastes faded pretty quickly. Most of the activity happened on the swallow, not a whole lot going on upfront. The tea lacked depth, body and any sweetness and the bitterness I could see turning off a lot of people. It’s also full of energy — I had a really difficult time falling asleep despite drinking this tea in the afternoon. Tread lightly with this one.

I prepared in a 110ml porcelain gaiwan at ~200F, 5g, rinse, 10 steeps – 10/13/16/19/22/25/28/31/34/37.

Dry leaves are dark green and light green, has a woodsy aroma. Light pale amber liquor. I got it on sale and I’m glad I did, it’s a good sheng… To me, it was like a step up in boldness from some delicate shengs with many of the same notes.

Some seaweed, marine, floral, wood, smoke notes. It’s complex as it evolves steep to steep. On the 4th steep on, a little drying on my tongue going on, astringency. It wasn’t overwhelmingly bitter to me. It’s delicious and pepped me up some hehe.

Update: I’m using the last of this today 2/18/19 and this time I prepared it 7g in 10 oz, rinse 10 seconds and steeped it for 30 seconds, the 2nd steep for 1 minute. I prefer it this way much more.

Very bitter

Trying to expand a little into the Raw Pu erh as I’m normally a Ripe guy. Certainly enjoyed this tea. The 1st time I brewed it I don’t believe I got the water/tea ratio quite right and it was a little too bitter for my liking. I dialed down the tea a bit today and it was much more enjoyable. Tastes of cedar, citrus, a little bitter, and overall kind of tropical.

This is the first sheng I’m trying from Mandala. :) I pulled a chunk out of the bag and it weighed 4.5g, and I have a 3oz gaiwan, so I decided to just go for it. I did a long 30sec wash with boiling water and then let the leaves sit for a few min to see if they would loosen up, which they did. It was still mostly in a big chunk, so for my first infusion I did boiling water again and a 15-20sec steep. Yiiikes, very bitter. So I dialed down to 90deg and tried a 10sec steep – still bitter. Then down to 80deg and did a series of 10-15sec steeps. At this point the bitterness was tolerable, but still a bit sharper than with other shengs I’ve tried. In one of the fairly early steeps I got a strong aftertaste of apricot, but that didn’t persist into later steeps. Then I started to lengthen the steeps a bit, and once I was up to 40sec or so, I turned the temperature up to 90deg. Suddenly the bitterness mostly dropped away, and a thick sweetness replaced it! Fascinating. So now I’m sticking with this temp and just adding 10sec or so with each steep. I’m glad I stuck with it. The body feeling with this is warm with an “awake but calm” kind of mental state – very pleasant. I’m glad I have enough in this sample to experiment with it some more, but certainly not feeling the need to run out and buy a cake of it. :)

Pu’erh TTB 2015 Tea #7

Thanks AllanK for putting this in the box after I made the request. The 2012 Wild Monk still has a memory associated for me because it has continued to be the best of what I have tried in regards to the wild variation of sheng (with Repave as the non). While this may be smoother than the YS tea I had today and only a year old, the taste just isn’t as explosive as the 2012 was. This sample was exactly what I wanted before I shelled out lots of money for a few cakes; I still find it odd that a small ‘higher’ quality cake doesn’t seem to have the flavor that a cheaper cakes has. Maybe the price is for the material?

I did a side by side comparison with the 2012 Wild Monk. They both look close in resemblance. The distinguishable difference is that 2014 is loosely compressed and seemingly larger leaves. This trait is only due to it not being stored for as long. The leaf smells of sweets and lightly woodsy. I placed this inside my warmed yixing to awaken it a bit. This sweet aroma became stronger and changed to that of a dock at the lake. I washed the leaves once to prepare for brewing. The steeped leaves became strong and bitterly scented, like that of fresh kale and seaweed. The flavor was drastically different from its older 2012 part. The initial sip was very dry and with some sharp bitterness. This stricking flavor was covered with a smoky and purple arugula taste. There was a slight sweet undertone, but it was otherwise nonexistent. It was interesting to see what just a couple years can do to Sheng. I do enjoy a sharp puerh, but this was just too dry. I’d love to give it some age though to enjoy it more thoroughly. My vote will have to stick with the 2012 version for now; perhaps, this idea will change in a couple years.

https://instagram.com/p/5Fhqu3zGSA/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

The tobacco aroma reminds me of Clouds and Fog, plus a little spiciness. Later steeps get slightly bitter; I can feel it in the back of my throat. Is it bad adding sugar to a pu’er? Because when I do that, I like it a whole lot more.

A mouthful of flowers and veggies