I had tried a Menghai v93 2010 or 2011 in a Steepster Community Pu’er Traveling tea box and thought it was pretty good. Looking up the Menghai v93, I found out it is pretty inexpensive, especially if you go for a recently made one and just age it yourself. For the 2015 Menghai v93 I paid $7 for 100 grams tuo on ebay, however you can get it cheaper at Yunnan sourcing, especially if you get the 5 pack.
I was stuck though – my pu’er cake collection is exploding after a recent upgrade to my storage, which is already close to max capacity. I decided I will just try out the 2015 and figure out from there to buy more. I realize this 2015 ripe is pretty young to drink, but why not?
Packaging and Dry Leaf
On the underside of the pu’er is a fancy hologram sticker with cuts on it. So much for ripping off the sticker in one pieces to put on a fake cake.
My 2015 Menghai v93 broke apart quite easily.
Steeping instructions
I went with boiling filtered water. With a ripe pu’er yixing pot I did 2 rinses, then started my steeping at 15 seconds, adding additional time as I steeped on.
Tasting of 2015 Menghai v93
After the rinses, Menghai v93 steeps up a reddy brown tea with sweet creamy scent.
First Infusion: Menghai v93 tastes malty with a kind of sour and woodsy background. The sour stays as an aftertaste. Thankfully, this pu’er is not fishy or bitter that I associate with newer ripes.
Second, Third, and Fourth Infusion: The ripe pu’er sweetened up fast! The flavor is now walnut and malt. It’s light in flavor for a ripe but has those notes of a thick higher fermented ripe. The sour aftertaste is still present.
Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Infusion: This got light really fast! I started steeping this pu’er harder, adding 1 minute to each infusion. The flavor is sweet and light with a nutty creamy finish. The sourness has finally faded.
Eighth Infusion: I did a last hurrah 15 minute infusion. Sweet smooth creamy and mellow. Really light though with some colour.
Comments
The Menghai v93 is lightly fermented, so a good choice for someone who doesn’t want a heavy thick ripe. You can also steep it hard for thicker flavor! You don’t get that many infusions, but it’s a nice shou for a really low price!
If you got the space to squirrel it away, go for it and snag a bunch of 2015 Menghai v93! The 2014’s are only a couple bucks more each. I’m tucking mine away and I’ll try it next year! I’m still on the fence on buying more, since I’m strapped for space.
