Today is the first time I am trying a tea from Tea Encounter – the Zheng Si Long 2018 Ma Hei Sheng Puer. This tea is old tree material from Ma Hei, which is in Yiwu.
Leaf and Steeping Method
The dry leaf has a soft fruity pungent scent.
I used the ratio of 1 gram of tea per 15ml of vessel size, gongfu steeped in boiling water. The hot rinsed leaves smells of dried green herbs that have been added to a soup.
Tasting of Tea Encounter’s Zheng Si Long 2018 Ma Hei Sheng Puer
First and Second Infusion: The first infusion is soft and light at first. It barely steeps up a colour. However, the Ma Hei sheng sips in fruity and has a cooling finish. More I drink, the more cooling chill I feel in my mouth as well as the fruit tasting like those fuzzy peach candies. This tea strangely reminds me of a toothpaste I got from Japan that was peach mint flavoured. The tea texture is silky smooth, but overall the body flavour is on the watery side, likely from its youth. The aftertaste is that minty stonefruit chill, and it lingers for a while after each sip.
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Infusion: The Ma Hei sheng has shifted to a more savory slick cream, like steamed white rice with some green banana leaves. However, the aftertaste is potently stone fruit and mints. I enjoyed the infusions here as it was fun having that savory start to fruity finish.
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Infusion: This is now testing the boundaries of the tea. It’s tasting stewy boiled vegetables starting to get bitter. 2018 Ma Hei Sheng Puer is dry, with the front bottom of my teeth feeling I’m due for a brushing. Then bam, that aftertaste is minty and vanilla. It’s less fruity as previous steepings, but darn good. The sip goes, “ehhh, ick… mmmmmm!” The seventh infusion was very bad bitter and dry, making my mouth feel powdery, leaving an astringent bitter minty feeling the mouth. I did an extended 15 minutes steep for the final infusion. It sipped in ultra light and astringent, but eventually, a refreshing vanilla flavour showed up as an aftertaste.
I saved the extra bit in the pitcher of steep 1 and 2 and drank it together at the end of my tea session. After being accustomed to the progression of the Ma Hei going bitter, the first infusions are minty zesty and fantastic. That cool zing switched on the “I am pumped on sheng” feeling and I need to wrap up this blog post and go play in the snow outside.
Gut Rot level – low. I feel fine after a session of this, though I am unsure if I need to brush my teeth or not. My mouth feels dry and chunky, but so clean and cooled.
Comments
I think I am biased as I really dig minty teas. Tea Encounter’s Zheng Si Long 2018 Ma Hei Sheng Puer is pretty young, a bit watery, and limited steep power. But hot damn that aftertaste on this tea is nice! It’s so fruity and minty, and later vanilla. If you are an aftertaste junkie, this is a fun tea to try. It has some fun contrasting tastes.
After drinking this tea, it has made me curious about trying more Ma Hei and other Tea Encounter‘s stuff. I have a couple more Tea Encounter and Zheng Si Long brand teas, so stay tuned!
(tea provided for review)
