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2009 Spring Norbu - Lao Mansa 225g Sheng Pu-Erh Tea Cake |
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These limited production(only 20 kg total!) 225-gram
bings are composed entirely of Spring, 2009 sun dried Pu-Erh tea that I had
the opportunity to select while in Xishuangbanna in the spring of
2009. All of the source
material was hand picked and hand processed on Lao Mansa tea mountain in
the western part of Mengla county right near the border with Laos, and I
had this tea pressed in a small factory in Jinghong using traditional
stone presses. Lao Mansa is one of the "six famous tea mountains," and
is considered part of the Yiwu tea growing region.
The tea leaves themselves are plump and juicy and consist primarily of in tact, new growth leaf/bud complexes. It is distinctively Yiwu in character in that it is
sweet, mellow, approachable and easy to drink even at this young age. The brewed liquor is honey gold, and the aroma is that of an obviously young tea with some complex young vegetal attributes. It has a rich & satisfying mouthfeel with a rich & long lasting sweet aftertaste that settles at the back of the palate and throat.
Note: The Lao Mansa bings from the
last 2 remaining cases of this production were
incorrectly weighed prior to compression at the factory. As a result of
this error, the remaining cakes all weigh approximately 225
grams instead of 250 as they were supposed to be. This is one of the
hazards of doing business abroad, and we will definitely not be using
this factory in Jinghong to compress our teas again. The price has been
adjusted down just over 10% to $25.75 from the original 250g price of
$28.75.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Weight: 0.5512 lb
250.02 grams
8.82 ounces
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Bing - Back
Bing Detail
Lao Mansa Map
Bing - Front
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| Positive Customer Review |
| mkohkura |
11 Dec 2011, 9:48 AM |
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Solid, mellow sheng
Bought a sample of this along with other pu-erhs from the site to taste test. I used a chunk of the cake that, when hydrated, filled my medium sized gaiwan about 1/2 full. After a quick rinse, leaves smell quite tobacco-ey. A first infusion of 30 secs or so with water at 208F yielded a cup that tastes incredibly mellow - especially for such a young sheng. I expected a flash of astringent bite, a slight "sourness", or maybe even some camphor, but this is a smooth sheng with very little bitterness. The little that there is does remind you that it is in fact a sheng pu erh, and will definitely make for a delicious, mellow aged cake eventually. Second infusion was done for 30 sec as well and came out much stronger with more astringency. Liquor is darker than I would have expected for a sheng.
I would even venture to say that initially this pu erh tasted kind of "plain" or "flat" - but a good, solid kind of "plain" as opposed to some negative or disappointing connotation of the word. It's a tea that will surprise you not with its brilliant sparkling taste or aroma, but with its mild-tempered, reserved nature and good mouthfeel.
Taste itself is very similar in nature to the Norbu bamboo pu erh (which makes sense since they're both from Yiwu Township), but obviously this is without the bamboo fragrance.
Finally, I love that the cake is stone-weight pressed which gives the edge of the cake a handcrafted look, and makes it easy to separate pieces for brewing.
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