2016 Yunnan Sourcing "Immortal Monkey" Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

I’m sampling this tea because I’m considering to stock it as a birth year tea. The fact that it took me 2 years to start sampling is telling.

Never had such a young Sheng before. Also never had this kind of quality, unless maybe from wet storage (not my favourite).

At first smell it seemed to be no different from a middle aged factory Pu. From its age I would have expected to encounter quite a bit of bitter, maybe similar to a green tea.

Instead, I am getting a pretty mild brew, with less bitter tones than many an aged factory sheng. The main flavour is mushroom, which I would normally consider not enough to go by, but it sits on a wider palette here. The initial steeping, as well as the leaves after early brews, have a dark green association to them, like extra vergine olive oil, which manages to give some plant context to all the more familiar ‘adult’ flavours of a sheng. (Which I would simply summarize as tobacco and musty bitterness.)

Later steepings and leaves are less subtle, and more musty bitter. And then milder again. This is a contrast with the factory shengs I’ve known — they seem to have no end to the musty bitterness.

(Initially I thought this wasn’t much of a quality, and recently I’ve learned that indeed it is not: the younger plantation teas used for these cakes tend to be unsubtly bitter. But now I’m thinking,:will that still transform into something else with very old age?)

Next time around I put it in clay to have it tell me more of its story. (It seems to compensate well for my local tap water.)

The other birth year sample I have yet to taste is the Big Snow Mountain. In hindsight I could have had more different samples: more expensive ones (as the hobby has stuck now) but also cheaper ones that came out later in the year. The downside is that then there suddenly is way too much to choose from. But yeah, maybe time for a next order :)

Recommending because it’s pretty OK. But not stocking up on it yet because it doesn’t enchant me yet. On to the Big Snow Mountain!

Updating my notes. I read this was Scott’s blend. Revisiting this daily drinker. So, on this quiet Christmas afternoon, I dropped the temperature down a bit and it was far less bitter. I also don’t have a stuffy nose this time from allergies so maybe I could enjoy it a bit more. :P

Floral, fresh grass, honey sweetness, green wood, sugarcane, stonefruits, peachiness, umami, brothy, medium to thick mouthfeel, little bitterness with astringency but balanced, pleasant. Longlasting finish.

Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 190˚F, 15 steeps: rinse, 10s, 13s, 16s, 19s, 22s, 25s,28s, 31s, 34s, 37s, 40s, 43s, 46s, 49s, 52s

I only had one session of this tea, out of the TTB which came through recently. My session was relatively enjoyable, though the tea didn’t impress me a whole lot. the tea smelled a little generically “sheng-y” with some sweet, greenish notes. The flavor was mostly vegetal, with maybe slight floral notes. I found it a little bit weak and just a touch boring. It was best when I started pushing it and some of that Wild Arbor bitterness began pushing its way to the fore. If I had a full sample of this one, I definitely would have tried to push it the whole time, maybe even overleaf it.

Alas, I just had the one session, so I won’t get to try that unless I order my own sample. All I can conclude is that, in my opinion, this tea should be treated with a heavy hand for best results. If that bitterness is prominent enough, it could make for a cake that will age rather well.

this tea is quite yummy

i will review next weekend :D

Brews a very light yellow, tastes of fresh grass and green wood with hints of sugarcane, mushroom, honey, and canned peach. Fairly thick mouthfeel, little bitterness, but some astringency. Moderately but not overbearingly sweet. Mild, pleasant qi feelings. It’s a nice, for drinking now mild kind of sheng but overall fairly generic. I’d recommend it if you enjoy young sheng or greens and are looking for a daily drinker.

This is a decent sheng for the price. The first two steeps were a little weak until the tea leaves opened up. There was little bitterness. There was what I might describe as a grassy sweetness to the tea. I would not go as far as to say apricots but it was a sweet tea just more subdued in it’s sweetness. This tea is a good value for the money. I don’t know if it is a good one to age as there was little bitterness to it and I am told bitterness is a sign the tea will age well. This I think is a good one to drink now.

I steeped this ten times in a 150ml gaiwan with 8.8g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute.

Today we have Yunnan Sourcing tea from the raw pu’erh club. I let this rest for 4 or 5 days first before sampling. I started by lightly breaking up the sample into smaller pieces, heating up my yixing. Then adding the leaf and a quick rinse. It was so clean only one rinse was needed.

The first steeping which was barely more than a flash steeping produced a light pale liquor looking much like a green tea. I got strong grassy note aroma right off the bat. The taste was grassy, vegetal, clean and astringent and a teeny bit too bitter.

The second steeping again flash steeped produced a similar liquor almost exactly the same. Though all the flavors and aroma’s were a tiny bit stronger. The third steeping again produced much the same result, telling me this tea has a bit of staying power. The fourth steeping was actually slightly stronger, bringing in a tiny bit of citrus taste to it. The fifth was also a bit citrus as well.

Im not getting much of the sweet flavors mentioned in the description. I do like this tea, its quite refreshing and though bitter isnt overpoweringly so. I think even a few years on this tea will make it in something exceptional.

I recommend this tea to people who like greens and young raws. Its quite nice , grassy and vegetal with a good mouthfeel and nice staying power.

Ps! First post!