The Mandarins Tea Room 2006 Yiwu

I have only tried one Yiwu tea prior to this, and after trying this one, I have decided I am rather fond of Yiwu teas, though I still have no clue what a young one tastes like as the only two I have tried are at least 4 years old.

This tea has been a major lesson in the effects even a few degrees in water temperature can make. This tea was acquired as a sample through a Teachat Tasting Initiative on Young Puerh. It included enough to give me two tries at this tea. The first was with water in my Lins kettle boiled on the stove, and reboiled every 10-15 minutes until the session was over. But Tim insisted when I had postive remarks but not spectacular ones that this tea really needs really hot water, just off boil for each infusion. Something I find no longer feasible with my Lins kettle solely because I am now operating without an Electric hot plate as in the past 2-3 months I have had two of them break on me, and my current set up is more friendly to the option of boiling on the stove.

But for this I took out my old trust electric kettle, reboiling just prior to each infusion. I also amped up a little bit the Leaf to water ratio doing 4.9 grams to 60 ml of water.

The first infusion was full of wonderful aromas such as camphor and wood, mixed with a plethora of herbs. It had a slightly bitter but incredibly potent blend of herbs with a nice touch of camphor.

The second infusion was lighter almost borderline floral, and reminded me of an early fall in the woods, with the taste becoming slightly more spicy and the sweetness starts to come out.

Sadly I stopped taking notes after that, as I was fully immersed in the tea.