It’s early days yet but this tea has taken a pleasant turn.
The last time I took out this teacake was over 5 years ago. I am quite curious to see where it stands now at 15 years old. For all ripes and age tea I like to start with a double rinse before brewing to drink. The initial discharge of fermented notes remains quite strong despite having faded to a degree. The wet leaves open up to a dark earthiness alongside a woody accent, combined with a cloying sweetness that includes notes of brown sugar/maple, vanilla. Sipping the brew I noticed that it has taken a pleasant turn. There is a pleasing softness that caresses the cavities of the mouth that I do not recall from the last time. A brew with good texture/mouthfeel is especially endearing for a ripe puerh and this further enhances the delivery of notes. At the fore the tea is mildly sweet and earthy, brown sugar and caramel, there is also a touch of bitter bark and yeasty nuances. It is early days yet and there is room for improvement. I have not noticed any development of an age character and the crude and unpleasant elements stemming from the Wodui process still lingers within the tea. Altogether I find this to be a solid representation of a modern ripe by Menghai TF.
A tightly compressed teacake
I will leave you with some contemplative thoughts. For puerh enthusiasts when we talk about the transformation that have come under modern puerh production we often think of the processing of raw puerh tea (post-2004). However, let us not forgot that the production of ripe puerh has been running right alongside and having its fair share of changes and tweaks. The next time you drink ripe puerh challenge yourself to see if you can pick out the differences of modern ripe production.
