2014 Menghai "Star of Menghai" Premium Ripe Puerh Tea Cake

Bouquet: The steaming aroma is very dark-ish sweet like dark chocolate and roasted hazelnut cream. Talking about roasted or smoked stuff there you might also discover a hint of grilled fish on stick with a fine marinade of soy sauce. This aromatic mist is highly mouthwatering and already foretelling a great tasting experience.

Liquor: This is one of those rare occasions where the dark side of the Force isn’t as dark as you might expect it. This fellow is very light within its coloration but not with its tasting experience. There you also meet up with a very unique dark chocolate more like hot chocolate taste plus a fine layer of roasted hazelnuts. What really amazes me is not the first infusion its the 2nd one! First and foremost – WOW! I experienced a lot but this is another new aspect I can now count to my tea journey. There are creamy and buttery teas but this is a completely other level. Its texture isn’t only creamy buttery its really actually thick like thickened like within a sauce. This is highly enjoyable and uplifts this whole experience. Beside this sensation other nuances are slightly subtle earthy notes but more important a very mineral stony feel within the aftertaste. Despite the fact that its darkness is weak its effect and taste is far from it. This is a highly warming Shou which gives a such tingling warm feel within your chest. If you are still waiting for the grilled fish to be served it is not available for our table but you can get a small taste of it some seats behind you on another table. What I mean is it is just very subtle noticeable within the echo after the last sip is done. There is also a certain sourness with a mixture of bitterness to it which really reminds me of dried fruits especially like figs – taste and effect-wise ~ Cheers

This is a very tasty ripe with a moderate amount of fermentation taste. I’d say the fermentation flavor started to lessen by the third steep and was gone by the fifth. There were also a variety of sweet notes to this tea. I get quite the fruity note to this tea, not sure if I would say dates or what but very fruity. The tea cake itself was loosely compressed. This could explain why it already seemed to have aged a little despite being from 2014. This tea was a bargain at only $31 from Yunnan Sourcing. As for qi I am getting a little out of it, a very relaxing qi but not a potent one. It has a lot of qi for a ripe tea. I usually don’t get any qi off of a ripe tea. Because it is from Yunnan Sourcing I don’t doubt it to be a real Dayi tea. I didn’t bother to test it with the black light but all looks right. This tea just tastes good. There is another note too but I can’t quite put my finger on it, a pleasant note.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. Judging by the color of the tea in the eighth steep I am sure I could have gotten four or five more steeps out of it but as always for me caffeine is a factor.