On the tea table is a pair of affordable sheng puers from Bitterleaf Tea – 2019 Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai and 2019 Year of the Pig Yiwu. Bitterleaf teas have quite a few inexpensive young sheng options, with the “Year of the Yiwu” an ongoing series. This slow owl took so long that both teas are sold out, but I’ll be referring back when the 2020 teas roll in.
Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai Sheng Puer
The dry leaf smells like stale dried cherries. Gorgeous looking leaf with the long silver buds.
Both teas I did my usual gongfu steeping ratio of 1 gram of leaf per 15ml vessel size using boiling water. Steeped up, the leaf smells of tart cherries.
First and Second Infusion: Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai starts off light, mineral, sweet, and fruity. This young sheng sips in light, but the flavor builds through the single sip, adding an essence of tart cherries and minerals with a creamy thick body. The aftertaste is freshly fruity but quite light. The mineral note has me perplexed – it simply tastes like my saliva with a touch of saline in it.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai is showing some soft orchid notes along with some more tart fruity ones, that build and peak at end of the sip. The fourth infusion was the strongest as it hit a high note with a touch of bitterness from a strong floral note. The aftertaste is more orchid floral, starting strong then quickly dropping. This tea is like drinking a rollercoaster as it starts low, gets high, then low.
Sixth Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: 2019 Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai is quite consistent in flavor, tasting still of mineral, orchids, and tart cherries. It is losing steam here, going lighter in flavor despite the increased infusion times. It has a touch of stewy bitterness, but it seems to hide with the floral and tart cherry notes. With the final steeps, the tea finally gets stewy bitter before dying.
Comments
Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai is a reliable fruity and floral light flavored sheng that is friendly. It does get bitter in the end, but it takes a while to get there. It was overall pleasant and easy to drink. If you are making the jump from green tea or greener oolongs, this is a nice sheng or if you just prefer that young floral sweet Jingmai profile.
Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Year of the Pig Yiwu Sheng Puer
Year of the Pig has a soft floral scent on leaves.
Steeped up the leaves smell like freshly steamed rice in banana leaves.
First, Second, and Third Infusion: Year of the Pig is also a light and soft tea. It has the flavor of honey, spun sugar, with a bit of juicy soft vegetal note. The texture is syrupy but with little aftertaste.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Infusion: Bitterleaf Tea’s Year of the Pig Yiwu has a stronger honey note along with a bit of wheat The flavor is still light side, but finally has more oomph with stronger honey and wheat notes, with a lingering taste of juicy stems. The fifth infusion has a bit of stewy bitterness that I accepted with open arms to break up the consistent sweetness.
Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: Finally, Year of the Pig Yiwu has switched to stewy and zesty but still has a pleasing light honey flavor once you get past the bitterness. The final infusions went stronger bitter and lighter, with the final one finally developing some dryness.
I got gut rot with this sheng, which I didn’t notice with the 2019 Monsieur Lafleur Jingmai. I was on the last 2 infusions and really wanted something to eat as my stomach was feeling dry and nasty.
Comments
Bitterleaf Tea’s 2019 Year of Pig Yiwu is a soft and pleasant tea. It does take some time to develop bitterness and is consistently honey and gentle through most of the infusions. Either way, Year of the Pig Yiwu is a great daily drinker tea or for someone new to sheng puer or for types who prefer sweeter young shengs. It is pretty easy to brew, likely if you went down to 200F it may not get bitter.
I had a couple of the Bitterleaf Tea “Year of the Yiwu” and trying them each year is a good example of how tea changes every year despite being the same material. Year of the Dog (I didn’t own but had a session with tea friends) was quite strong and almost darker in profile. The Year of the Rooster was also on the lighter side like Pig.
(samples provided free with order/ provided for review)
