Early release, I purchased all three Bitterleaf Teas’ 2018 Spring Lao Man E teas – The Bitter End Lite brick, Bitter End, and Xtra Bitter maocha. Originally what I wanted to do was comparison drink all three teas but that would likely destroy anyone’s stomach lining from all the bitter. I’ve already reviewed The Bitter End Lite, which is the sweeter huang pian version.
Today lets drink the regular Bitterleaf Teas’ The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E sheng puer.
My Bitter End cake got aired out for a while, over the summer with my tea room being really baller due to the hot weather. My pumidor ran out of space, so I was really slow at putting away cakes.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E is a good looking cake. It smells slightly pungent, but not smokey.
The compression is on the looser side. I easily got big full chunks of leaf. I could easily snap this cake in half or wiggle out pieces since I got the cake started. The Bitter End Lite Huang Pian is iron brick from hell, so having this cake be not a weapon was a surprise. I do think most aren’t going to drink this crazy thing this young, so I would have been okay with a tighter pressing for better aging, but alas, it seems most prefer a lighter compression for ease of use.
I used 1 gram of leaf per 15 ml of vessel size, steeped in boiling water. During the rinse, I got a blast of UH OH. The leaf is strong smelling bitter, nose wrinkling, almost making me want to sneeze.
Tasting of Bitterleaf Teas’ The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E Sheng Puer
First and Second Infusion: My first impression is The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E is crunchy. It sips in like strong crunchy bitter celery, strong cabbage greens, and trying to be stone finish and aftertaste. The texture is creamy slick.
Third and Fourth Infusion: This is it. This is good stuff. The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E is sipping medicinally bitter terror that becomes slick vanilla and mystery stone fruit lubricant. It’s like bad for you but it goes down good. Or maybe the bitter goes down bad like medicine but it feels good? I don’t know, the tea is starting to scramble my brain. I dig the slick feel and strong fruity aftertaste, but this tea is bitter.
Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Infusion: Now, this is the steeping and what I like to taste. Bitter End is still bitter but has all the aftertaste to ride off on. It’s got that strong stale jasmine floral that just sticks to the roof of my mouth. These steepings seem less bitter than previous ones, though it sips in sharp bitter like a thousand angry kale farts, it isn’t offensively bad to me due to great aftertaste counter. At around the 9th infusion, I got some brain and ear massage feels. I felt really chill drinking this too, despite my taste receptors screaming at the bitterness.
Tenth and Eleventh Infusion: The Bitter End is getting into swamp mode. It is tasting really bitter all of a sudden. It is quite dry, drying out my tongue and throat. It is mainly bitter in taste that is taking over the aftertaste that made it drinkable bitter. The more I sip the more my mouth is dry, to the point I can feel my gums dangling between my front teeth.
Twelfth Infusion: I did a 15 minute infusion and got a lightly flavored stewed green tea. I killed it.
Gut Rot Factor – Moderately High. My stomach starting cramping at the 4th infusion. I survived the whole encounter but needed food after.
Comments
Bitterleaf Tea’s The Bitter End 2018 Spring Lao Man E sheng is a tea to show you how good bitter sheng puer can be but is past that comfortable line so it is likely too bitter for the uninitiated.
This is in my tastes as I quite enjoyed the slick texture and aftertaste. It was enough that I plum forgot it was bitter as the aftertaste just takes over. But don’t get me wrong, it is hella bitter. Out of the three Lao Man E’s from Bitterleaf Teas, this one is my favorite. I’m glad I caked it. I could be convinced to purchase a second cake or if they do this cake again next year. Though I know my Bitter End cake will be lost to the bowels of the pumidor as some age on it would be epic.
This is a tea for the bitter lovers or if you love aftertaste more than anything. The Bitter End is a good tea to get your feet wet for Lao Man E. I wish I could refer to The Bitter End Lite Huang Pian brick as the cheaper option but that tea lacks the aftertaste bonanza as The Bitter End cake.
