2011 Yunnan Xiaguan Meng Song High Mountain Tea Raw Puer

This tea is strong. I don’t have enough experience to know if it is really a good example of a Meng Song tea but that is what was said. There was a fair amount of bitterness that never completely went away. Despite this bitterness it was quite smooth. There were some notes of smoke early on but they were subdued. It has a strong aftertaste that is bittersweet in nature. I would venture to say it’s got only a mild cha qi, judging by the fact that it is having only a minor effect on me. I don’t really know that I’m qualified to judge cha qi anyway. But I feel this tea has some. There were some other varied notes to but I didn’t really pin them down with specifics. Let’s just say this is no apricoty sheng. That’s not to say there isn’t some sweetness to this tea. There is some, it’s just very subdued.

I steeped this tea 14 times in a 60ml gaiwan with 3.8g leaf and 200 degree 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, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, and 3 min. Even at fourteen steeps this tea wasn’t done. It was not tremendously weakened. I’d say this tea would go 20 steeps with longer times. However, 14 is enough.