2008 Xiaguan "Mabei" Tuocha

This gift from the boundlessly kind Keng rather snuck up on me: I didn't realise that it was a Xiaguan tuocha until I read the small print.  As pictured below, it looks nothing like the usual Xiaguan productions, and carries none of the usual markings (such as the "Big G", etc.).

Mabei [mar-bay] means "Horseback", and is a phrase that I have since come to use to describe Xiaohu's favourite activity of sitting on my shoulders and travelling the world at a height of over six feet.  He may not be standing on the shoulders of giants, but he is at least sitting on the shoulders of his father / xiaomaolu*.

*Donkey

The "Big G" is pressed into the shape of the tuocha itself.  As we might expect, the leaves are small, healthy, and aromatic.  The aroma of shicang [wet store] surprises me, and the correspondingly heavy orange of the soup looks a lot darker than one might anticipate.

In aroma and flavour, the potency of its raw state has been exchanged for the familiar sweet blackness of modern Xiaguan processing. It reminds me of that class of modern Xiaguan productions that are cleaned-up, tidy versions of Baoyan [sacred flame, a.k.a. ODB].

Very little kuwei remains, which is interesting, because this doesn't have the appearance of a tuocha that is intended for mainstream production - it has the "Pu'ercha heritage" aesthetic that usually indicates a target market of pu'ercha drinkers.

Nonetheless, it provides the usual array of granary Xiaguan characteristics that I have come to love over the years.  I'm not holding out a lot of hope for its future, given the heavy processing, but it is an enjoyable tuocha to enjoy while waiting for everything else to age.  Thanks once more to Keng for another treat.

2004 Menghai "Kongque" Tuocha

Long-time readers of this humble site may recall my affections for the 1998 Menghai "Kongque", a charming old tuocha that I bought for a pittance at Yunnan Sourcing, ages ago.  I had little disposable income at the time, because I was spending half of each week travelling to see my new girlfriend, a very pretty Chinese lady whom I'd just met at a conference, and who was clearly way out of my league.  

With little money to spare, every purchase counted, and I treasured every tea that came my way.  Such careful buying is a healthy state to cultivate, and I try to hold onto the buying habits of my previous self.

Imagine my delight, then, when my Singaporean teachum, the extraordinarily generous Keng, sent me this 2004 version from the same series.  "Kongque" [approximately, kong-ch'ooer] is the Zhonglish name for a peacock.  It has long been one of the highest-grade tuocha productions from one of my favourite factories, the eternally-mighty Menghai.

The little red ribbon that has been pressed into the leaves is Menghai's subtle way of saying "aww yeah".  I imagine an elderly, experienced Menghai blender pronouncing that phrase in a Chinese accent, and it pleases me.

You may be able to tell from the images that this is much larger than my original, beloved 1998 Kongque, weighing in at 250g instead of 100g.  I prefer the larger size - of course, they last longer, but they also have more of a critical mass from which to develop a healthy maturity.

Unlike the crushed melange of Xiaguan tuocha, this is a mostly whole-leaf affair, made from tiddly little tip-leaves.  The colour is already turning a rusty orange, and I am reminded that Singaporean storage seems to be intensely successful.  

Hallelujah: it has the sweet, bookish aroma of shicang [wet store].  I am in seventh heaven, and water has yet to hit the leaves.

The soup is heavy orange, which is clean, smooth and sharp in character.  It is a good age, because it has a mouth-watering bitterness from its youth, and an old-honeylike sweetness from its age.

The shicang aroma is much less obvious when brewed, and I suspect that any shicang has occurred prior to its migration to Singapore, where it has probably received a drier treatment.  It is pinewood, sharp, and highly enjoyable - just as one would expect from one of Menghai's better productions.

Kongque will always have a special place in my heart.

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Addendum
February, 2013

This big tuocha has hot and humid darkness - sweet, long, and most satisfying.  It has an "incompressible" body, filled with hot straw and sweetness.  The kuwei is solid, which challenges and provides continued interest.

The Warmest Light

the warmest light

I have seen in weeks -

the broken bedlamp