2018 Mae Hong Son Raw Pu-erh Tea

I was in the mood for a sweet sheng today, so I started to brew these 6 grams/100 ml water (at 90 degrees Celsius), with few quick steeps, under 10 seconds. I have increased the time only after few steeps, carefully enough to preserve the sweet character of the brew.

First thing that touched my palate was a particular type of minerality, not uncommon with certain shengs, but in this case, it was quite strong and sweet. The fragrance is soft and it features sweet notes of honey, ripe wax cherries, marshmallow, slightly nutty and a bit herbal.

Good mouthfeel, aftertaste is slightly cooling, sweet and there is a sort of "crispiness" that lingers in the mouth, not sure how to describe it.

The wet leaves are very aromatic. Incense, potpourri, yellow plum, beeswax, dried herbs, sandalwood and toffee. Sure has some «wild» qualities. The soup is more muted, but has the same aromatic components, as well as ripe yellow fruit and some rosehip. Mushrooms in later steeps. Slightly chewy bitterness, low on astringency, both sour and sweet. Its the mouthfeel/energy of this tea that really impresses me though. It comes creeping, but with great concentration, depth and persistency. Really grabs a hold. Longer steeps bring out more bitterness, but I like that, and find it well balanced throughout. Beautiful tea.
I did about 10 steeps of 10-30 sec @ 96C.

Bouquet: Its steaming atmosphere spreads out a wave of such deliciousness expressing itself in notes of dried dates and figs plus an overall windfall fruit vibe to it. But there is also already a certain aged vibe to its character of in old leather wrapped books and aged Oud plus a final hint of a roasted nuance like a fine Italian smoked Cranberry Ham. Talking about Italian which profile at many times hit my senses with those Thai Pu's is a certain Mountain deep forest dark honey vibe.

Liquor: Its texture is silky creamy soft with such a vibrant dried fruity aspect of figs and dates to it plus the former named ripe fruit vibe now even more clear in its unfolding of pickled Asian Nashi Pears. Within the echo you can experience the elegant dance of the former named Italian Cranberry smoked ham. Besides everything else former named is as present as it was within its steaming mist. From the aged Oud and leather up to the Italian dark forest honey. This is pure greatness and so different but yet also similar to Yunnan Pu-erh.

Brief steeps (few seconds) in 90 Celsius water.
The liquor looks clear with a dark golden hue in color tone, close to amber.
The taste is light with a fruity note and a floral aftertaste.
Mouthfeel is slightly dry, with no astringency nor bitterness.
Wet leaves are a mix of olive green and bronze in coloring, giving off a fruity aroma similar to dried stone fruit.
This tea withstands many infusions.

Unmistakably a wild puer, and a good one.
If you haven't tried wild puer yet than try this one and the Lord Of The Forest,
as they are both very high quality representatives.
This isn't to say they are standard for yeshang, as you wouldn't find something quite the same in China,
but yesheng in general in a little crazy..

pricing is right, as Lord Of.. is clearly higher quality, but this one isn't far behind!

[Still, this sample is not ye-sheng in the usual sense. Organoleptically, it is much closer to cultivated trees. Although the material was collected in the wild forest and notes of wild tea are present here. Note TEA SIDE]