2007 Shuangjiang Mengku "Muyechun 001"

The Shuangjiang Mengku factory in the Lincang area is famous for its Mengku Rongshi brand, but in 2007 a new brand was introduced: Muyechun. This secondary brand is produced from a sub-branch of Shuangjiang Mengku, recently opened in Yongde - still in Lincang, near the Myanmar/Burma border.

Two recipes exist for this year: the "001", which is the tea described by these notes, and the "002" - the former is supposed to be more tippy, the latter to consist of larger leaves. I often find tippy pu'er to lack depth, so my default tastes might lean towards the "002" a priori.




Both recipes are decidedly inexpensive, at £9 and £8 for the 001 and 002, respectively (at Yunnan Sourcing). That's the price of three pints of beer...

Many thanks to the generosity of TA for providing this tea.

These notes are based on two separate sessions with the same tea, as is my current habit, in order to provide representative notes. I often find variance between sessions, usually based on differences in my own nature when I come to the tea-table: some days calm and bright; some days tired and looking for some refreshment. This affects how I receive each tea. The two sessions which formed the notes for this tea were polar opposites.

In the first session, I loved this tea and thought it to be an absolute steal at £9. In the second session, I found it to be crushingly ordinary, and barely worth £9. Between the two sessions, the only difference was in myself: water, pot, leaf quantity, and brewing methods were identical.





The compression is perfect: the leaves (pictured above) separate easily, without tearing. As advertised, the leaves are very small, consisting almost entirely of tips. A clean aroma of very green maocha hangs about the dry leaves.

In the first session, I found an enduring dark sweetness in the wenxiangbei [aroma cup], which literally lasted for whole minutes. This indicates a decent quantity of content in the soup, which was a straight, honest yellow. (I say "honest" in reference to several young teas that brew an orange soup, as if they have been processed already to approximate a certain agedness - some of the earlier 2007 Xizihao cakes come to mind.)





Similarly in this first session, I found long, long, long notes of pleasant mushroom flavour in the mouth, eventually ending in a very pleasant huigan. Very "beany" and broad, I liked it very much, and already planned a purchase.

In the second session, the next day, I was joined by my dear wife. After having talked excitedly about this new find, the tea really disappointed: it was flat, thin, uninteresting, and thoroughly ordinary.

"Curiouser and curiouser", as Alice might say.





The tiny wee leaves are shown above, and they are healthy enough - being strong, and quite thick.

A third session is needed to arbitrate between these two opposite experiences. I very much hope that the first session turns out to be the more representative, as I can still recall the pleased feeling that I had that first time.