A maocha from Puerh Shop, seemingly selected by the proprietors while visiting Yunnan, this is my first encounter with tea connected to Mangbo, to my knowledge.
As ever, the leaves (shown below) are beautiful, fragrant, and dark. Lucky old Qingchan:
The soup is a curiously luminous yellow - it is very bright, with a tinge of actual green in the gongdaobei (not shown below). "Fishy", says my dear wife, of the aroma. I found it long and sweet, but quiet.
The actual soup was a lot like the scent: hesitant, thin, but fresh. The flavour was very green: all leafiness and lucha, with tons of vibrant energy as it impacts the tongue.
Brewing this tea in short infusions seems to be the order of the day.
Brewing this tea in short infusions seems to be the order of the day.
It would be churlish to criticise this tea, given its extreme inexpensiveness (under $6/50g). I struggle to think what one can buy for the same price here in England. Whittards would quite happily sell you 10g of something crushingly average for the same price. As such, it would make a solid background tea for an office.
7 comments:
Hobbes,
The dry leaves and the color of the brew seem very unusual indeed. From the look I would have though it was a dancong if I had not seen the wet leaves.
Now that question will appear a bit far fetched maybe but how is that maocha comparing to that Goetheborg cake you like? Isn't there a sheaf of similarities or are these teas completely different?
Thank you for any impression, I am quite curious about the answer.
Oxymoronically, a “good-average” office tea is worth its weight in gold. It sustains, yet, facilitates the anticipation of what lies ahead at home. john
Dear Iwii,
I hope spring is treating you well down there. :)
The brew was a solid yellow, which I usually expect for unaged maocha - it's just that straw-coloured, mushroom-scented pleasantness. Maybe it doesn't come across too clearly in the photo, my colours are often a wee bit out.
Let's see now, comparing this one to the Gedebao... this would be $42 for 350g, whereas the Gedebao was much cheaper. Hmm! This is telling me to buy more Gedebao... heh.
This tea is straight-up mushroom and straw. The Gedebao, on the other hand, is a bit more interesting. I just opened one of the cakes from the shelf, and it's turning dark nicely, and has a lovely aroma. They're not completely different, but the Gedebao is much nicer.
And, as you point out, cheaper. Hmm. Dare I buy more, when there are other cakes I want? :)
Dear John,
I love your philosophy. You're so right.
Toodlepip both,
Hobbes
Hmmm seems that I was wrong... In fact I was wondering whether or not the Yibang cake was from the mangbo area.
I am glad this put you in the mood of buying some more tea, but that was not at all meant to be a sale pitch :)
Actually for me, the bad season is about to begin, but I am never loosing hope in this country: even during spring, it is sometimes a rather rainy upon the Cherwell isn't it? :)
Thanks for your notes.
The price I came up with Mangbo Maocha to make a 350g cake is $ 31.44.
The maocha is $ 5.39 for 60g if you check it.
Ya, I should leave my name here too.
This is Jim from PuerhShop.
Think it again, a cake of Mengbo could be had at low $ 20 considering the the scale and the quantity discount.
Jim
Dear Jim,
Many thanks for the correction - it looks as if I have rounded up to $6/50g in my diary, causing the discrepancy. Either way, it's not much money. :)
I bet it's rather fun to pick out teas from your own first-hand tasting...
Toodlepip,
Hobbes
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