These are my tasting notes of the Mandarin's 8582 menghai.
I'll only post the first 4 steeps for now. Prepared as per Tim's instructions:
Flash rinse | 10s | 15s | 15s | 10s
Wet leaves had the aroma of musty old wooden furniture, and the forest after a light summer rain.
1st Steep:
Glossy orange/brown color liquor. Flavor was delicate, sweet (which surprised me after the earthy smell of the leaves!) and slightly musty.
2nd Steep:
I can smell sweet hay and woody notes, reminiscent of an old dusty barn (in a good way). Darker amber color liquor. Sweeter now with strong camphor flavor.
3rd Steep:
Took on a taste similar to the smell of the paper in a very old book. Astringent now; leaving a lasting dryness on the tongue and cheeks. Camphor is still there with a stronger umami.
4th Steep:
Dark brown liquor. Astringent with a sharper more complex taste and a lasting umami. 5 minutes after the last sip the flavor was still in the back of my throat and started becoming sweet again to my surprise!
I really liked this tea- but maybe for more nostalgic reasons that others might have liked it for. As you may know I have a horse and I've always been around horses growing up, the taste of the tea really reminded me of the mix of sweet and dusty smells of a barn (again... in a good way), it constantly reminded me of "old things", i.e. old books, antique furniture, etc... I think I could really enjoy this WITH an old book on a cold winter night.
Nov 23rd, '10, 13:16
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the_skua
Re: '85 Menghai 8582 sheng (loose)
That's a damn fine tea. And one that will bowl you over, if you've not had much experience with aged sheng.
Re: '85 Menghai 8582 sheng (loose)
Wow.. the colour of the tea colour... yum yum
Just curious, how much did you buy for this 85 first edition of 8582???
Just curious, how much did you buy for this 85 first edition of 8582???
Nov 25th, '10, 01:05
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Proinsias
Re: '85 Menghai 8582 sheng (loose)
Tim's got it on sale here:
http://www.themandarinstearoom.com/1985 ... h_p_1.html
http://www.themandarinstearoom.com/1985 ... h_p_1.html
Re: '85 Menghai 8582 sheng (loose)
hey rabbit,
a great review - I enjoyed reading it.
I really like that you described your feelings. And the photos are nice too
Now I have to give it a try by myself.
ciao
Marco
a great review - I enjoyed reading it.
I really like that you described your feelings. And the photos are nice too
Now I have to give it a try by myself.
ciao
Marco
Dec 6th, '10, 15:03
Posts: 7
Joined: Nov 15th, '10, 14:31
Location: Chhattisgarh, INDIA
Re: '85 Menghai 8582 sheng (loose)
Aged raw puer darkens with time; how quickly will depend on the storage (among other things).GrandmasPuerhCakes wrote:Isn't raw suppose to be golden? That looks more like cooked.