Thursday 5 November 2009

2003 Menghai Wild Yiwu Sheng (Jing Tea)


I am going to enjoy today, I have something I think will be special. 

Despite the postal strike's best effort to stop all my tea from arriving I did receive a sample from Jing Tea London within 24 hours of ordering, well done Jing! As a side note I am becoming quite impressed by them as a company, their service has been very good. I even got a phone call apologising for one of my glass tea cups having a defect. They seem to be a good bunch.

They only stock a handful of pu erhs, it's not really their thing but if a company like Jing decides to choose just a couple of pu erhs to represent them, you would imagine they are going to pick a good one. Of the two bings they sell, one is from 2007 and the other 2003. The latter I shall deal with here. One thing it's not is cheap, priced at a whopping £132.40 per bing! Despite this high price the sample pricing is very fair.

350g @ £132.40
10g sample @ £3.75
350g using the sample price is £131.25!

Now, I'm not sure £132.40 is a good price for this tea, it seems rather high. But I haven't been able to find it sold online elsewhere to compare the price. Anyway, £3.75 isn't a lot to spend if you think about it. I'll get two sessions from the 10g sample and, if it's got good legs, an awful lot of infusions from each session. The final cost of each infusion is pennies.


The first infusion

5g rinsed then brewed with One Love Welsh spring water in my yixing pot.

The first infusion is sweet, slight tobacco and some camphor in the finish that awakes the tongue and leaves my mouth feeling cool.

Second infusion reminds me of honey, amber and thick, the camphor has picked up and the center of my tongue feels more energetic. The tobacoo is more pronounced and I am able to observe the woodiness. My lips feel a little numb, especially my lower lip and I feel more focussed.


Third infusion

 Just before I am about to start my third infusion I notice my tongue is still alive with feelings from the last steep. The soup is slightly darker now and this is when it's at it's best. My session is cut short by the need to pick Michelle up from college (note to self : allow much more than an hour for a good session). On the drive over to Stratford I pick up a nice huigan, not overpowering but pleasant. I also pick up a £60 speeding ticket and three points which shatters my mood somewhat.

Subsequent infusions are lasting but don't have the magic of the first three, perhaps my mind is elsewhere now?

It's a very nice pu erh. I don't think it's £132 nice but still highly enjoyable and it sets the benchmark from now on for me. I'm gonna wrap up this session's notes with a very pleasant huigan in my mouth.





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