2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Mengku Huang Shan" Wild Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Astringent, Green Apple, Orchid, Pastries, Bitter, Bread, Citrus Zest, Compost, Creamy, Drying, Flowers, Grass, Green, Honey, Pine, Sugarcane, Sweet, Tart, Thick, Umami, Grain, Orange Blossom, Parsley, Peat, Plants, Popcorn, Toasted Rice, Vegetal, Forest Floor, Fruity, Hazelnut, Hot Hay, Mineral, Tangerine, Thyme, Tobacco, Wood, Floral, Herbaceous, Malt, Nutty, Spicy
Sold in
Bulk
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Togo
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 oz / 126 ml

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4 Tasting Notes View all

  • “18 Sep 2020 6g in 230ml Yixing teapot [[Hybrid brewing]] Dry leaf fragrance just jumps out at you – so sweet and fruity! Rinsed once. First infusion (95˚C, 30s): Wet leaf smells typical raw...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “Based on how I liked the 2017 sample, I got this cake, which I am trying for the first time today. I hope it’s as god as the 2017 one :) The smell is similar to what I remember, notes of compost...” Read full tasting note
    91

From Yunnan Sourcing

Entirely wild arbor tea from early spring 2018! Tea leaves taken from 60 to 100 years old tea trees growing wild near Da Hu Sai in the county of Mengku) Lincang. Full and stout one leaf to one bud ratio tea leaves. Huang Shan (Remote Mountain) tea has been growing wild for decades and is grown by a close friend of ours (Mr. Duan). Mr. Duan picks and processes all his tea by hand and never uses chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Huang Shan tea has a typically Mengku strength and thickness. It’s tea soup is golden yellow and viscous, the aroma is sweet with hints of orchid and mushrooms. The taste is sweet, astringent and bitter with a savory kind of mouth watering feel and strong cooling effect.

An incredible value pu-erh which is both worthy to drink now or for the long-term. Clean and pure!

Each cake is stone-pressed by traditional method and dried with low temperature air drying.

Each tong of 7 cakes is wrapped in bamboo leaf!
Tea weight: 400 grams
Vintage: Spring 2018 material
Quantity: 60 kilograms in total
Area: Huang Shan Mountain of Mengku County, Lincang Prefecture

Wrapper Design by Neimen Jaidde

This tea has been tested in a certified laboratory for 191 pesticides, and is within the EU MRL limits set for those 191 pesticide residues.

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

Company description not available.

4 Tasting Notes

84
261 tasting notes

18 Sep 2020

6g in 230ml Yixing teapot [[Hybrid brewing]]

Dry leaf fragrance just jumps out at you – so sweet and fruity!

Rinsed once.

First infusion (95˚C, 30s): Wet leaf smells typical raw pu-erh, nothing to write home about. Liquor smells fruity and floral, a bit tangy (green mango). Flavours are really well-balanced and it’s comforting and warming. I like a lot! (But wouldn’t pay more than US$50 a cake – haha it costs US$53 for 400g, I’m spot-on!)

Second infusion (96˚C, 1:05): Liquor smells lovely, combination of florals (orchid, apparently) and toasted pastry. However, it tastes very astringent – I overbrewed. Will maybe go for 50s next time.

Verdict: I’ll try the 2014 Yunnan Sourcing Impression Raw Pu-erh (low-tier daily drinker) again and if I like this better than I’ll get it too as a Mid-tier daily drinker.

My Rating: 84

Flavors: Astringent, Green Apple, Orchid, Pastries

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 8 OZ / 230 ML

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91
943 tasting notes

Based on how I liked the 2017 sample, I got this cake, which I am trying for the first time today. I hope it’s as god as the 2017 one :)

The smell is similar to what I remember, notes of compost and conifer forest are the dominant ones. Later on throughout the session, I also get some nutty aromas.

Now, let’s see how it tastes. Already the rinse is quite flavourful. It reminds me of a Yunnan green tea, but with more of a honey note and nicer bitterness. I am actually surprised how much drinking this tea reminds me of the sessions I had with the 2017 one. I guess that means it’s fairly distinctive and made a lasting impression on me. This one here is a little greener, which makes sense. I get more umami and grassy flavours. Other difference I notice is a stronger sweetness present in the 2018 tea as well as a more upfront honey flavour. It is still very balanced though.

The mouthfeel is as good as in the 2017 version. On top of being thick and creamy, I also found it to be quite bubbly. I have a feeling that this I would consider as the best price/quality ratio sheng I have encountered to date, but I could be forgetting about some. It is a bit more expensive now, but when I bought it, it was selling for $0.1/g.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Bread, Citrus Zest, Compost, Creamy, Drying, Flowers, Grass, Green, Honey, Pine, Sugarcane, Sweet, Tart, Thick, Umami

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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