2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi: Marketing Budget Single Origin Puerh

Okay, I know Tiago and me are both strong believers of the benefits of full size puerh cakes.  But, let’s be honest… there are also many advantages to offering Xiao Bings too.  Maybe one of the biggest advantages is that a cake can be had at a much lower buy in price.

Okay, I know Tiago and me are both strong believers of the benefits of Spring cakes.  But, let’s be honest… there are also many advantages to offering Autumn puerh too.  Maybe one of the biggest advantages is that a cake can be had at a much lower buy in price.

Okay, I know I kind of just repeated myself there.  But you can see where I am going with this right? The combo of xiao bing with Autumn production makes for a really affordable option for those who can’t afford or don’t want to spend the money on fresh puerh these days.  Zheng Si Long offers a solid Yiwu single origin puerh experience for those who wish to explore single regions on the cheap all the while having your very own cake which is kind of fun.

Tiago sent me a complimentary sample for review of one of these autumnal 2019 Zheng Si Long- the 2019 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi($46.47 for 200g cake or $0.23/g).  I imaged he probably sent this one because he knows I really enjoy the Zheng SiLong Mang Zhi and also because I think the 2016 is a pretty solid Autunal puerhfor the price…

Dry leaves smell of creamy, woody, florally, fruity complex odour that is not particularly strong but complex.

First infusion starts with a pondy woody watery onset with hay notes underneath.  There is a clear vegetal base to this first infusion almost rubbery woody and almost floral.  Not that much sweetness.  The mouthfeel starts to fill up with a rubbery squeaky kind of feeling.

The second infusion starts with a very present woody taste slight rubbery woody and almost a woody floral type of finish.  The mouthfeel is full and squeaky.  There is a puckering full sensation in the mouth with a very faint floral, not that much sweetness.  The cooled cup is a floral orange creamy butter sweetness over a vegetal base.  The Qi comes off pretty relaxing.

The third infusion has a lime fruit sour orange woody floral taste.  There is some complexity coming out in the taste with sour, salty, and not quite sweet notes emerging here.  The taste is both interesting and enjoyable and ends in a faint sugary woody floral cream woody.  The mouthfeeling is a bit sandy and soft not too full with a vacuous throat.  The Qi is relaxing to the point of zoning out chill.

The fourth has a jazzy fruity perfume woody strong condensed initial taste.  The base is woody and vegetal there is a sugar sweetness in the finish with a fruity sweet layering.  The mouthfeeling is chalky with sticky lips.

The fifth infusion has a woody slight bitter juicy condensed fruity perfume onset.  The initial tastes kind of drops leaving a vegetal and woody base and some floral tastes with a faint sugar.  The mouthfeeling is a thick chalky coating not much of anything really goes on in the throat. 

The sixth infusion has a chalky floral orange fruit taste over a vegetal woody base flavor.  The initial taste is a spark of tastes then it fades into a creamy sweet almost orange creamsicle flavor over woody vegetal taste.  The mouthfeeling is thin chalky and the throat is empty.

The seventh infusion has a mild bitter wood with vegetal and faint orange floral underneath.  The mouthfeeling is a chalky thin puckering with a cottony full finish.  It finishes vegetal and almost creamy sweet. There is lots of flavor here for sure just not as much mouthfeeling and absent of much throatfeeeling.  The Qi is quite mild and relaxing almost hazy in the mind.

The eighth infusion has a woody slight bitter onset with sour orange and floral finish.  The dense flavor over stimulating mouthfeeling are enjoyable.  There is also a metallic taste developing in the mouth over a flat sticky dry thin mouthfeeling.  Hazy mild relaxing downer Qi on this overcast day- my mind feels overcast.

The ninth infusion has a bitter woody onset that quickly leaves an orange sour sweetness behind in the tight chalky thin mouthcoating.  There is a vegetal bitter woodiness underneath.  A cool cup is more creamy sweet woody slight orange sour savory taste.  The taste is complex and interesting but has little to root on a thin tight chalky mouthfeeling and empty throatfeeling.   Relaxing.

The 10^th has a woody slight bitter orange not that creamy floral taste.  It’s like all the interesting flavours come at the same time and don’t stick around much but that initial blast is really nice.  Flat tight full coating.

The 11^th infusion has a sour sweet orange woody vegetal taste.  Tight slight chalky full mouthfeeling.  Relaxing Qi.  This puerh is very stable throughout the infusions.  I like the interesting burst of flavours here- bitter, savory, and sour.

`12^th has a watery, vegetal, slight bitter orange taste with some woody almost coco base woody profile.  There is a grain/ hay subtle nuance that pops up in the aftertaste minutes later. 

I mug steep out the rest and it gives off thick olive vegetal slight bitterness with a wood-floral nuance.  The taste is still quite concentrated and give me a calm alert feeling inside.

I overnight steep it and it is actually quite complex in flavor the next day with chalky, woody, creamy sweet, fruity, bitter, lots of tastes in there over a thick full chalkiness.  The fruitiness is quite long in the mouth and lingers for a long time.  It’s interesting that the gongfu had not much aftertaste where the overnight steeping of the spent leaf had lots of aftertaste which tells me that it will grow into its aftertaste as it ages a bit more.

Overall, this Autumn Mang Zhi offers a dense complex burst of varied tastes initially that fade quickly but are quite satisfying and thick when they arrive all at once.  Like a big blast of flavor and then quick fade.  This aspect is nice and enjoyable.  There isn’t much for either length of taste, aftertaste, nor is there much throatfeeling.  The Qi is a relaxing hazy mind effect.  In the end I liked the contrast between flavor bursts and relaxing haze.  I still think a much better Autumal Mang Zhi is the 2016 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi offered at Tea Encounter that was selected by Tiago after a wider sampling of Zheng Si Long Autumal productions over the years.  Still this is a solid autumnal puerh single origin puerh for its 2020 price- if that is what you are looking for.  I enjoyed it.

Peace

2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi: Deep Energy Battery

 

Regular readers know that I like the 6 famous puerh producing area of Mang Zhi.  This 2020 Zheng SiLong Mang Zhi ($175.10 for 400g or $0.44/g) turned out to be a nice one…

Dry leaves have a brine, woody, and faint floral nuance.

The first infusion has a juicy woody onset with some subtle warming spice in the mix.  There is a base of really mild bitterness.  There is a subtle fruity bread returning sweetness.  The mouthfeel is stone slippery.

The second infusion has a woody, slight caramel sweetness with a mild bitter underneath.  There is a lingering bread, faint fruity, and almost caramel finish.  The mouthfeeling is soft and stone like slippery in the mouth.

The third infusion has a caramel stone mineral sweetness that has a base of mild bitterness.  There is some forest like notes in there, woody, almost fruity returning bread-like sweetness.  The standout tastes are bitter and caramel.

The fourth infusion has a bitter woody kind of mineral caramel taste.  There is a long lying pungency that has a wild dirt mint kind of taste to it.  This infusion has an interest combo of tastes over a stone like slippery and almost sandy mouthfeeling.  The Qi of this one is slow to come and subtle in the mind- a clear type of alertness.

The fifth infusion has a fruity burst with a quick moving bitterness that gives the feeling of a grapefruit type taste.  There are some woody, floral, mineral nuances as well.  The overall feeling here is fruity yellow kiwi fruit and grapefruity tastes that are closely paired with a mild-moderate bitterness.  There is a cantaloupe melon type aftertaste that turns into mineral.  The Qi has a relaxing feeling to it.

The sixth has a bitter cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, creamy almost banana medicine like sweetness to it.  There is some faint woody mineral base tastes if you look hard enough but the feature here is a long tropical bitter sweetness that is really satisfying to me in this infusion.  I enjoy the moderate bitterness mixed with a nuanced tropical sweetness that is reminiscent of those new style IPAs.  The mouthfeeling has a soft slippery feeling to it and becomes a bit gripping in the mouth.  The throat opens at the top throat.  The teeth feel squeaky from the bitter here.  I like it!

The seventh starts with a delicious caramel floral melon fruity note.  The bitterness is quite mild here and the caramel note reaches past the initial tastes into the aftertaste.  The aftertaste has a honeydew melon and mainly caramel finish over a slippery stone feeling mouhtfeeling and open top throat.  The Qi is a nice powerful alerting but relaxing Qi.  I can feel my heart beat.

The eighth has a dirt mineral woody mineral has a nice caramel finish with a low lying pungent dirt mint which brings a melon fruity finish with notes of apricot.  There is a nice breadth of tastes in here.  The mouthfeeling is slippery and slight sandy with open top throat.  Qi is a bit invigorating, happy feeling.

The ninth infusion has a dirt woody and fruity onset.  There is a splash of fruity tastes over woody bitter backgrounds.  The mouthfeel is sandier and has a faint melon and dirt type taste with some woody dryness.  The Qi continues to alert the mind and slightly relax it.

The tenth has a fruity woody mineral type of taste with a predominating fruit taste.  The fruity taste is long on the breath over a sandy mouth coating.  Nice sunny Qi.  The Qi deeply and slowly builds up over the infusions to give me a nice deep energizing feeling.

The 11^th has a lessened bitter sweet onset with mineral woody mid taste.  There is a slight turbid mint like taste then a nice long mineral fruity taste.

The 12^th has a fruity bland chalky onset with a faint woody mineral taste and not too much returning sweetness- mainly just chalky woody.  Not much sweet or bitter here.

13^th I put it into 20 second steeping… and it pushes out more floral type almost fruity sweetness with woody and mineral underneath.  There is some faint pungency and bitter here that pushes out a bland flat type of sweet aftertaste.

14^th 30 sec has a bitter stone woody taste up front with not much sweetness left…

I put it into a mug and grandpa steep it for a while… It is equally floral as it is bitter.  Strongly floral actually…

Overall, this 2020 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi is all about the Qi.  It doesn’t seem as big as it later feels in the body minutes and even hours later.  A “sneak up on you” Qi for sure.  It really energized me a lot but felt almost relaxing.  In this way it is strong but not completely obvious or is more cumulative in nature.  The other thing about this Mang Zhi is it doesn’t have one obviously strong taste character but rather a lot of subtle tastes.  Obviously, it has a mild-moderate bitter taste but the bitterness and other tastes change quite a bit from infusion to infusion.  I enjoyed the deep strong backbone and complex and changing subtle tastes of this Mang Zhi.

Vs. 2016-2019 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi.  Check out the review of all these Mang Zhi in my 2019 review.  I would say this one is much better than the 2019 Mang Zhi and closer to the 2018/2017 in quality.  There is some deep energy in this puerh despite its weaker taste/ mouthfeeling. Puts it as my 2^rd favorite of the bunch.  Maybe between my favourite (2018) and previous second (2017)?

Alex’s (PuerhBlog) Tasting Notes

Peace

2019 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi: Comparing all the Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi

This 2019 Zhang Si Long Mango Zhi sample was kindly gifted to me for review (cake goes for $121.22 for 400g cake or $0.30/g) .

The dry leaves are a very punchy fruity odour.

The first infusion is airy surgery, slight woody, with a vegetal and almost spicy nuance to it.  The mouthfeel feels slightly tight on the tongue.  There is a mild tropical fruity aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is substantial.

The second starts with a spicy woody, and sugar onset with slight fruit underneath.  There is a slight gripping astringency to the mouthfeeling, slight sandy.  There is a nice mild tropical fruity finish over a sandy mouthfeeling.  The throat is less stimulated than the tongue and lips. 

The third infusion has a woody, slight fruity onset, with a slight peach note.  The full sandy slightly astringent mouthfeeling pulls the peach note into the aftertaste.  The mouthfeeling is full but not excessive.  It sits at a simulating fine grain sandy texture which feels quite nice in the mouth, the throat feels untouched.  The wet leaves have a very strong freshly bit peach odour with emits from the pot.  I start to feel the Qi in my body and my Heart flutters a bit.  I feel a touch of energy flowing.

In the 4^th the initial taste is of dense peachy fruit with tropical underpinnings.  The dense fruit taste slowly fades into the aftertaste and overlaps with a creamy returning and more tropical sweetness in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is fine grain sandy, almost chalky on the tongue.  The cool sensation is felt on inhale but is mild in the upper throat.  There is some mild bread notes in there and woody notes in the back ground.  The progression of sweet taste is very nice here.

The 5^th has dense peachy tastes right off the bat that hold in the mouth until they intersect with the returning creamy sweetness and tropical fruit.  There is a faint bread and almost spice taste also faint woody underneath the performance of intermingling sweetness.  The mouthfeeling is really nice a fine sandy/ chalky full feeling.  The upper throat carries a coolness and creamy sweetness minutes later.

The 6^th has a dense peace and creamy fruity nuance initially now there is less intermingling of separate sweet tastes and is more a layered sweetness from the initial taste which just stretches out in the mouth and into the aftertaste now.  The mind feels relaxed, almost spacy from the Qi and the body feel a faint sensation in the chest.

The seventh infusion has a mellower fruity mixed with dry wood onset.  Its sweetness is less dense here. Then it collides with a touch of returned creamy sweetness and seems to be inhaled a bit from that in the aftertaste where a subtle creamy tropical fruit nuance is found.  The mouthfeel becomes chalkier slowly as the infusions go on. 

The 8^th is that same woody, almost bready, but less fruity onset that meets creamier sweetness in the aftertaste.  The mouthfeel is chalky the throatfeeling is superficial.  The sweetness is much less dense now but still shares sweetnesses with woody nuance.  The Qi can feel heavy on the head a bit and a bit alerting and slightly euphoric.  Nice.

The 9^th infusion is much the same with just a bit more astringency in there and I notice more of an orange taste that comes out with the creamy sweetness.  I would say the sweetness is balanced here with dry woody.  The mouthfeel is real nice chalky, almost astringent, almost sandy but full.  The Qi has a nice uppity feeling in the mind and you can feel it in the Chest/ Heart.

The 10^th starts a more watery and juicy fruity wood then the sweetness transforms to a creamy almost tropical sweetness.  The mouthfeel is chalky and the throat carries a mild coolness.

The 11^th infusion has a more creamy sweetness to it throughout.  It starts a bit watery/juicy then to almost woody then to a creamy sweet, almost tropical.

12^th is becoming more woody and slightly astringent.  There is mild fruit underneath.  The Qi is making me move.  The mouthfeeling is thinning into a more sandy feeling.

13^th has a floral woody almost fruity taste initially then slightly woody sweet fruity finish.

The 14^th is mainly woody with faint fruit underneath.  The mouthfeel continues to thin out and become slightly sandy.

I take the 15^th 30seconds longer than flash infusion it pushes more fruit out but also more astringent and almost bitter wood too.

The 16^th I long infuse as well and it pushes out some sweetness with woody… some faint tropical something.

I put this in to the overnight infusion …

The next day there is a slight sweetness but mainly a bitter floral like taste.

In order of personal preference of the 5 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi offered at Tea Encounter with price/ value in consideration:

2017 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi – $0.29/g- has the best all round qualities of taste, Qi and mouthfeeling,  A slower building Qi that is relaxing in the head and light body feeling.

2018 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi- $0.35/g- might have the best Qi sensation of chest tightening and knotting under the sternum sensation, slow moving and evolving creamy sweetnesses and some savory throughout the session, gripping more intense mouthfeeeling than others. (wait a minute... I think this is my favorite... hahaha)

2016 Autumn Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi Dragon Ball-  $0.23/g- good example of autumnal pureh, long candy aftertaste with deep throatiness, good stamina and decent mind chilling Qi

2019 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi- $0.30/g- uplifting Qi with chest Heart body feeling, lacks the overall intensity that the 2018 and 2017 have overall, more woody but with layered tastes, peach and tropical early on, less intense mouthfeeling as 2018 and 2017 as well.

2016 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi- $0.38/g- very stable infusions, very pure and quite flavourful, lazy and relaxing Qi

They are actually all nice famous tea mountain Mang Zhi puerh… and they are the most stable out of the Zheng Si Long offerings year after year.  I find them all quite satisfying and most offer a good balance of Qi, taste, and mouth/throatfeeling.  The most notable aspect is decently good Qi in these Mang Zhi and many have a nice mouthfeeling as well. Out of all the Zheng Si Long samples, I usually end up drinking up the Meng Zhi first, the sample speed test… hahahah… with that said I still haven’t purchased a cake… Yummy.

Peace

2016 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi Dragon Balls Vs 2016 white2tea We Go High

It feels odd that I’ve never tired puerh in a dragon ball form ever.  Back in the day, it just wasn’t a thing, it didn’t exist back then.  I wonder who was the first to form puerh into a convenient ball size?  It has the same idea as the coin or minis idea … a modern incarnation of a coin.

This one is from the Mang Zhi region, an autumnal production (see Zheng Si Long Spring 2016, 2017, and 2018).  I recently mentioned that I am enjoying these productions of the famous Mang Zhi region.  The dry ball of puerh smell like slight woods with a candy fruit cherry sweetness.  I received it as a free gift when I placed my first order from Tea Encounter a few of these 2015 Zheng SiLong Wa Long.

I did a 30 second rinse and then put the lid on the pot for five minutes to break up these tight balls…

First infusion is still light and airy from the tight compression.  Watery and woody water with light floral and sweet sugar nuances.

The second is still just starting to unravel with icing sugar taste, slight dry woods, almost wildflower florals.  The mouthfeel is mossy and throat sensation starting to get stimulating.

The third infusion starts off with dry wood and icing sugar sweetness.  The sweetness is trapped in the deeper throat feeling and has a mild strawberry nuance to it.  The mouthfeel and throatfeeling are very soft but show signs of being quite full and deep.  The Qi starts to pool in the head.

The fourth infusion starts off dry wood and with a nice fluffy cotton candy nuance.  There is a fruity middle and nice throat stimulating and throatfeeling.  The throatfeeling is deep and opening.  It makes you want to clear your throat.  The tastes are light and airy, sweet and woody.  The Qi is reasonably strong and heady.

The fifth infusion starts off with an unpretentious sweet woodiness that turns into a sour taste then into a mellow vegetal sweetness.

The sixth infusion has a sour woody and barely sweet nuance that transforms to floral wildflower and dry woodiness.  It is not very sweet but has a sour sweet edge to it.  The wet leaves are predictably aromatic and have a menthol like odour.  Qi has a mild but noticeably stuffy sensation in the head.

The seventh infusion starts with a plum fruitiness to it.  There is a menthol woody undercurrent throughout which turns into a noticeable wildflower nuance.  The throat feel is reasonably deep and mouthfeel sticky and mossy.

The eighth starts juicy almost sour like a mango like taste mixed with grapefruit.  The mouthfeel is mossy and the throat feel is pretty deep.  After the juicy sour fruit fades there is a woody dry nuance left in the mouth.  The qi has a mild headiness to it.

The ninth infusion has a sour fruity onset with an astringent woody finish.  The mouthfeel is mossy on the tongue and the top of the throat opens a bit.  You can almost detect some wildflower nuances.  There is a bubble gum nuance left on the breath minutes later.

The tenth infusion starts fruity and woody and sour.  The mouthfeel is becoming sticky and there is a lingering cotton candy nuance in the breath.

The eleventh infusion is full and nuanced fruity layers of sweetness arrive with mango, and grapefruit being most obvious.  The liquor starts to thicken up here and deliver a nice thick woody fruit with decent depth now.  The aftertaste is lingering faint candy.  The Qi is mild in the head.

The twelfth infusion delivers a dense liquor of nice thick fruity woody tastes.  The flavours are sweet, barely bitter, and significantly sour.  The woody taste is the deepest and the most ethereal is the lingering candy sweetness.  My mind saunters in a nice place from the Qi.

13^th is a dense licorice, fruity and woody presentation in a thicker liquor.  They fade into a long candy like sweetness.  Nice meandering mild spacy qi.

14^th infusion has that nice dense onset with simple but thick flavours that fade easily into a candy-like faint finish.  The 15^th has that candy sweet taste in the initial now alongside fruits and slight wood.  The bitterness and sourness continue to recede with each infusion.

15^th has a nice dense fruity onset with dry wood underneath.  A wave of sweet fruity tastes comes and goes and leaves a slight woody taste with the breath of candy.

16^th is less sweet, more woody very interesting lingering sweetness.  17^th is more sweet, dense liquor, fruit.  The mouthfeel is mossy and sticky in these later infusions.  Candy long fait aftertaste.

18^th here we go into a woody apricot like sheng type of sweetness.  Nice long candy finish.  A creamy sweet finish.

It was coincidence that I had just drank another 2016 Autumnal production that was similar in some ways to this one, the 2016 white2tea We Go High.  I found these 2016 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi Dragon balls similar in tight compression, in its thick fruity and woody tastes and textures.  2016 white2tea We Go High has a bit broader profile and complexity.  Although the Qi is actually quite similar, We Go High is a bit stronger.  2016 Zheng Si Long Autumn Mang Zhi has a more intense long candy aftertaste and deeper throat feeling.  Each had good stamina and are both nice examples of autumn puerh.  In my first sampling of 2016 white2tea We Go High I suspected that some Gua Fang Zhi or other Yiwu like material comprises a small amount of the blend.  Maybe its closer to Mang Zhi than Gua Feng Zhi?

This was a fun session.  I wonder if Tea Encounter will offer these?

Peace

2016 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi / I think I like Mang Zhi

I quite like tasting the selection of Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi puerh at Tea Encounter.  So after receiving this sample in a complimentary care package from Curigane (Tiago) of Tea Encounter I make this 2016 Zheng Si Long at $150.85 for 400g cake ($0.38/g) the first of the bunch to sample…

Dry leaves smell of a very sweet, kind of faint floral fruit with a mineral rock like odour.

First infusion has a mild sweet honey and woody almost grain onset with wood bark and almost cherry tastes in the aftertaste.  The tastes are crisp and pure the mouthfeel tight.

The second infusion has a soft onset of dry wood, grains, almost grass with a subtle fruity nuance.  A candy-like aftertaste lingers on the breath.  The mouthfeel opens gently and the mouthfeeling is slightly taught and sticky.

The third infusion has a malty grains and woody sweetness.  There is a long sweet, date-like, malty sweetness and noticeable camphor pungency in the returning sweetness.  The aftertaste displays different layers of sweetness- malty, date, and faint candy floss.

The fourth infusion starts off sweet and fruity with dry wood in the distance.  The pungent camphor aftertaste sets off a long sweetness the trails into the breath.  This sweetness is maltier and grain-like initially but has a candy-like nuance in the aftertaste.

The fifth infusion starts off mainly sweet malty, grainy, almost date.  There is pungency then long sweetness.  The mouthfeel is slightly tight and slightly sticky but not overly stimulating.  The throat is mildly opened.  The profile overall is quite sweet with dry wood- very Yiwu in profile.  The Qi is mild and lingers heavy in the head, behind eyes, makes me feel pretty relaxed, almost dopy.  I’m looking for an energy boost this morning but am give only dopiness and relaxation and a heavy head.

The sixth infusion starts off balanced between dry wood and malty, grainy sweetness.  The onset of camphor sets into motion a long sweetness.  Sticky mouthfeeling.

The seventh infusion is a nice clean woody, malty sweet taste.  There is less sweetness now and more of a light balance between dry woods and malty sweetnesses.  The camphor returning taste is there and the sweet tastes are long, if not becoming less obvious now.  The long candy like breath taste is holding though.

The eighth infusion has a more intense pungent camphor taste but less obvious initial taste.  The pungent camphor in this tea is very nice as is its long aftertaste.  The tastes are one dimensional but pure and flavourful.  The qi continues to relax and sedate.

The ninth is more wood but still contains all the same flavor elements in there.  The mouthfeel is becoming more sandy and less sticky now.

The tenth is loosening a bit of strength now, its mellowing out into a nice sweet/woody/camphor thing.  The eleventh is sweeter now, but its harder to define the sweetness.  The taste remains pure and unmuddled here but not as intense or nuanced as early on.

I add 10 seconds to the flash infusion in the 12th and get a nice fresh, crispier woody sweetness.  In the 13^th I add 20 seconds and get much the same mellow woody sweetness but the longer infusion pushes out more candy aftertaste that still lingers in these leaves.  I feel spacy and lazy.

To lazy to do more, I do a few more longer infusions with enjoyable fruity/ woody tastes in a mild sandy/sticky mouth- and throat-feeling. 

This puerh has a very stable infusion to infusion session but what is there is very pure and very flavourful.  Its single estate pedigree is quite obvious.  Very Yiwu tasting.  The mouthfeeling/ throatfeeling and qi are not bad too.  A very solid tea for those who like the Yiwu taste and single estate but don’t want to pay crazy for it.

I go to compare the 2018 and 2017 Mang Zhi but I drank them up…. Too delicious to keep around too long, I guess… I’m starting to really enjoy these Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi.  My favorite out of the bunch is the 2017.

Peace

2017 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi and Teapot Clogging

After rapid firing through some 2018 maocha, I decided that this 2017 Zheng Si Long Mang Zhi ($111.79 for 400g cake or $0.28/g) would be the first actual product from Tea Encounter reviewed.  I liked the 2018 Mang Zhi maocha, a nice example of Mang Zhi, and thought I was in the mood for this sport.  I decided to gong fu this at work through my erratic work day.

The dry leaves smell of a candy, licorice, chicory, slightly, woody frosty sweet mineral.

The first infusion delivers a creamy sweet initial taste with slight fruit and floral.  The creamy sweetness ebbs and flows through the profile and sometimes resembles cotton candy in its finish other times a floral tropical fruity taste initially.  There is an interesting, mineral, almost rainforest, base taste.  A long cooling aftertaste of sweet creamy tropical fruit after the cooling arrives.

The second onset is creamy tropical sweetness with mineral and rainforest tastes.  The sweetness peaks three times- in the initial, returning sweetness, and long aftertaste. The mouthfeel is soft and simulates the tongue softly and opens the mid throat nicely.

The third infusion has a sweet and slightly bitter buttery sweet onset. It expands to a mineral, forest taste before returning to creamy, almost tropical, sweetness and slight cooling.  The mouthfeel continues to expand on the tongue coating- a slightly gripping, slightly sticky coating.  This infusion is more mineral a forest then sweet.

The fourth infusion is a nice mix of bitterness, buttery caramel sweetness, light foresty, slight astringency, slight mineral.  The juxtaposition of a dominating caramel sweetness with slight astringent and bitter minerality is nice.  The tea has a nice medium oily viscosity to it.

The fifth infusion starts off initially mineral, then caramel sweetness comes in with slight bitterness.  There are some tastes of fresh green pea and tropical fruits under these base tastes. 

*******The sixth infusion the pot clogged completely rendering the resulting infusions moot.  Darn.  Didn’t catch it until it was too late. Sigh…

Anyways it gives us a glimpse into a cupping style infusion to see what this Mang Zhi is made of.  Deep buttery caramel sweetness dominates, slight floral aspect, interesting mineral taste, almost wood florals, nice full mouthfeel that mainly gripping and slightly soft/sticky but not off putting.  Nice coolness in throat.  The qi is slow to come but felt lightly in the head.  Very relaxing and very mild euphoria.  Leaves the body nimble.

The following infusions show signs of a more tropical fruit profile, with slight rain-foresty in a mild bitter astringent backbone.  The sweet tropical dominate when the pot starts pouring flash infusions again.

Although this tea is only 2017, it is obviously stored in rather humid conditions of Xisuangbanna as evidence of its caramel taste and light brownish liquor.  The storage is very clean though.  I can image all of the Tea Encounter’s Zheng Si Long will have these charms.

This tea offers a nicely balanced taste of a solid sweet base with medium notes of minerality and rainforest.  Many subtle but different sweet tastes can be found in here.  However, this tea has enough strength in its medium bitter and astringency, medium thick viscosity and full mouthfeeling to offset the sweetness and make for an interesting session.  Qi is a slower builder and mainly relaxing in the head with some subtle power.  The bodyfeel is nibble and whimsical feeling.

I kind of like this one and should try it again with the remainder of the sample.

Peace

2018 Mr. Zheng’s Selected Maocha

It has been a while since I sampled a decent number of puerh this fresh.  These five maocha samples were personally selected by Mr. Zheng of Zheng Si Long.  I can imagine him matter-of-factly rejecting hundreds of others as he did in that video.  It was passed on to me that they may or may not be the actual maocha used in his 2018 line up.  Nor do they represent the processing end product of the puerh he did chose to select.  Rather, they are used to give us an indication of the quality of these puerh producing areas this year and, for me, the skill and character to which Mr. Zheng selects for his puerh.

Thanks again to Tiago (aka Curigane) of Tea Encounter for sending this treat.  There is no time more natural then the peak of Summer to drink such young raw puerh.  I imagine the 2018 line up will be up for sale in a few weeks/ months.  I hope to also review the actual 2018 Zheng Si Long puerh samples when they arrive. But for now, let me present this teaser…

2018 Yibang Maocha

Pungent, fairly intense sweetness, honey, floral, rainforest smells, less high and deeper than some small leaf Yibang dry leaf. Icing sugar, floral finish, sweet, foresty, top sticky mouthfeeling, very yibang character, nice mouthfeel sticky mouth roof, soft flowing qi, subtle tropical fruit and floral finish, mild cooling, interesting faint fruit finish, subtle, can feel some head floating, qi behind eyes, Qi goes to the head. Clean. Slight sticky cheeks. Slight floating feeling. Release eye tension.  Vision sharpened.  Thoughts clear.  Very mild astringent.

2018 Ding Jia Zhai Maocha

Distinct fruity odour of cherry, fruity, creamy sweet, slight pungent noted dry leaves.  Round fruity aroma, woody mid-profile then sweet strawberries.  Tongue coating.  Distinct fruity cherry/ strawberry/ wood taste.  So Yiwu.  Lots of complex movement of tastes in the profile.  Lingering fruitiness. No bitterness. Spacy Qi.  But centering feeling.  Comfort in Stomach.  Full feel in mouth and mid throat, fine sandy slight squeaky feeling.  Soft cooling fruit sweetness returns.

2018 Xiang Chun Lin Maocha

New producing area for me.  Creamy sweet, slight vegetal-like intense berry fruity sweetness in the dry leaves.  Starts savory, seaweedy, rainforesty, long subtle berry fruit/creamy sweet finish.  Sticky full mouthfeel.  Berry taste pops nicely in very full sticky mouth.  Long sweet cooling berry aftertaste.  Feel qi on forehead and brow.  Slowness in the mind.  Heart noticeably beating now. Vigorous and relaxing very early in session.  Nice dizzying Qi.  Green tea-like, vegetal suggestions.  Reminds me of boarder tea.  Creamy sweet taste dominates with long cooling sweet menthol.  Slowly becomes softly astringent in mouth and mid-throat.  Fairly big Qi sensation in head- very relaxed but acuity strongly sharpened.

2018 Mang Zhi Maocha

Incense, foresty-mossy, slight sweet, savory, almost seaweed, distant floral dry leaves.  Very savory, seaweed-like, with monotone sweet note, thick slight drying mouth coating in front of mouth and lips, slight wood, slight briny.  Barely floral/ menthol finish. Floral finish builds and become more distinct.  Woody base taste, floral finish. Mild, Slow to build Qi.  Gripping mouthfeel.  Slow to develop taste but nice when it does.  Sweetness slowly builds up. Wanted to keep going.  Distinct chest knotting Qi under sternum.

2018 Ge Deng Maocha

Intense fruity, cherry, foresty deep, sweetness, cherrywoods in the dry leaves.  Mild icing sugar onset, slight cherry fruit and mild cooling floral, cherry candy sweet finish. Dominating deeper forest woody base under less obvious high notes throughout. Deeper mid- throat feeling. Gripping mouthfeeling felt in back mouth fuller mouth covering. Medium astringent/ bitter.  Opening in throat.  Mild Qi in back of neck/shoulders. Nearly warming.  Woody tastes dominate high notes faint on the breath/ returning sweetness. Turns into mainly woody tastes.

Peace