Clean dry leaves with a woody, sweet nose offering a hint of incense. Golden liquor with good clarity. Vegetal flavor and a touch of mushroom with a touch of sweetness; tiny amount of bitterness in the first two cups. Smooth with definite character in later cups. Ample complexity beginning in the third infusion and lasting through the remaining six resteeps. Good aftertaste in the mouth. Potential to continue improving with age.
Note: good tea but not my favorite Mengku and not even my favorite Arbor King from Mengku.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
jschergen

Out of curiosity what are some of your favorite Mengkus?

DigniTea

James – when I made that comment I was thinking of the Mengku Daxueshan and Mu Shu Cha cakes I have liked. Also I actually enjoyed a recent tea session with the 2011 Arbor King more than this particular session. Since this is the award winning formula in the award year, I am thinking that I need to try another session or two with this 2006 Arbor King before I draw any real conclusions. The subjectivity of tea evaluations including my own sessions from time 1 to time 2 is the very reason I stopped assigning numerical ratings to my tea notes. Things change; I change - we all learn as we mature and grow through our tea experiences (particularly puerh). IMHO.

jschergen

I agree with your philosophy on rating teas and have had similar experiences with dramatically varying sessions. It seems silly to rate teas on a scale very seriously, especially one as granular as 0-100!

Thanks for sharing :). I was mainly curious for my own reference as I have yet to seriously dive into the Northern regions or Mengku. Will keep my eyes out for those teas.

Cheers!

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jschergen

Out of curiosity what are some of your favorite Mengkus?

DigniTea

James – when I made that comment I was thinking of the Mengku Daxueshan and Mu Shu Cha cakes I have liked. Also I actually enjoyed a recent tea session with the 2011 Arbor King more than this particular session. Since this is the award winning formula in the award year, I am thinking that I need to try another session or two with this 2006 Arbor King before I draw any real conclusions. The subjectivity of tea evaluations including my own sessions from time 1 to time 2 is the very reason I stopped assigning numerical ratings to my tea notes. Things change; I change - we all learn as we mature and grow through our tea experiences (particularly puerh). IMHO.

jschergen

I agree with your philosophy on rating teas and have had similar experiences with dramatically varying sessions. It seems silly to rate teas on a scale very seriously, especially one as granular as 0-100!

Thanks for sharing :). I was mainly curious for my own reference as I have yet to seriously dive into the Northern regions or Mengku. Will keep my eyes out for those teas.

Cheers!

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I drink mostly puer and sometimes what we as Westerners think of as black tea.

I no longer assign numerical ratings to teas because our enjoyment of tea is very subjective. Reactions to a particular tea vary from person to person and within the same person across different tasting sessions.

My tea notes are simply comments reflecting my impression at that specific point in time. They are helpful to me and if they happen to be useful to someone else that is good.

For me, tea is magical with its ability to transform by bringing one back to center and inspiring both peace and contentment.
Reformed coffee drinker. Switched to tea as part of my goal to work on living a healthier, more balanced life — haven’t looked back since.

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