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Crimson Lotus Tea Spring 2015 Jingmai Midas Touch Sheng
Origin: Mangjing/Manghong,
Siamo
Harvest: Spring
2015
Elevation:
1300m
Tree age:
≈600 years old
Glenn of
Crimson Lotus Tea included a sample of his 2015 Jingmai Midas Touch, a tea I
had my eye on, but was just a little bit out of my budget as well as another of
his more expensive shengs, sadly no Special Sauce. Nevertheless I was excited
to try this tea, but before I was decided to sample it I really did not want to
fall in love with it. While this is not an outrageously expensive sheng I am more
used to buying young shengs in the $30-50 range. Crimson Lotus Tea describes
this as:
The old growth tea forests of Jingmai (
pronounced 'jing my' ) are nothing short of idyllic. These ancient forests
border Burma and hide smuggler trade routes still in use today. The
biodiversity of the region and the nearly untainted old world methods and
rituals of tea cultivation and harvesting make this area unique among world tea
production. Large tea trees planted before Columbus discovered the Americas are
commonplace.
This year we had the pleasure of meeting
a tea farmer in Jingmai called "The Bulang Prince". He's quite a
unique character. He is young and highly educated for a tea farmer. He is
passionately dedicated to perfecting his craft and has spent time
traveling and learning from other tea farmers in Yunnan. He is a rare breed. He
worked with roasting masters in Bingdao to polish his skills.
His 'royal' hands were responsible for
roasting this tea. The material is good to begin with, but in his hands we
felt it became something extra special. We decided to call this one "Midas
Touch" because we feel he has the skill to turn his leaf into gold.
This tea is strong despite the
young age. It has the beginnings of the honey aroma Jingmai is known for. This
tea brews both gentle and strong at the same time. It can surprise you. Stick
this on a shelf for 10 years and you will have a truly amazing tea!
·
Prefecture: Simao
·
Village:
Mangjing / Manghong
·
Tree
Age: ~600 years old
·
Elevation:
1300+m
·
Wood
Fired
·
Hand
Rolled
·
Indoor
Sun Dried
Dry Leaves: My sample is loosely compressed at first I thought it was
maocha, but after viewing the image on CLT’s website it looks like the cake is
pretty unique, it looks like there is a lot of variety in this cake. There are
what appear to be some large leaves as well as some twisted leaves. Visually it
reminds me of Bai Mu Dan because of how varied the tea appears to be. It looks
like there are a few stems in the cake, but my sample is all leaves.
First
Steeping
Temperature:
Boiling
Brewing
Time: Five Seconds
Aroma: Smoke
and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot,
Green Beans, and Hay
Tasting
Notes: This was rather interesting, but simple start. While it does not have
that smoky taste a lot of young shengs can have it does have a bit of a
smoke/char aroma. It does have a nice bitterness that disappears around the
sixths or seventh infusion after that it becomes very sweet. Other than that
there is a wonderful apricot taste as well as some green bean and hay notes.
I know
green bean flavors in young shengs can be a warning sign, but this tastes very
different from any of the young shengs I have had before. I don’t feel
confident in predicting how this will age or even if it is worth aging (since
it is a very drinkable tea as it is), but this stands out to me for some reason
that I cannot exactly put my finger on.
Second
Steeping
Temperature:
Boiling
Brewing
Time: Ten Seconds
Aroma: Burnt Wood, Camphor and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot,
Green Beans and Hay
Tasting
Notes: Still there is some bitterness, but not a lot to turn off someone off
this tea; but not enough to be that memorable. There is quite a lot of
sweetness that dulls the initial bitterness. The flavors of this sheng are pretty
similar to the last infusion still very simple, but at the same time very nice.
The
aromas have changed a little. There is a new Camphor smell that was rather
nice, the fruity scent is pretty much the same; but the Smoke/Char of the last
infusion is more like Burnt Wood. Not necessarily like burning wood, but more
like the smell of a living tree that has been hit by lightning.
Third
Steeping
Temperature:
Boiling
Brewing
Time: Fifteen Seconds
Aroma: Burnt
Wood, Camphor and Fruity
Flavor: Apricot,
Green Beans and Hay
Tasting
Notes: Again the flavor and aromas are pretty much the same as last time, the strength
of the Camphor smell is a little stronger, but the Burnt Wood smell is still
the primary aroma. The bitterness is still there, but it quickly disappears.
Overall this is a rather nice experience; it has a nice bit of bitterness, not necessarily
kuwei, which is balanced by the sweetness. So far this tea is meandering somewhere in the
middle of the road, it is not one of those supper easy sweet and floral teas
that probably won’t age well nor is it one of those rough teas that may have a
bright future.
While this sheng takes a while to become
more complex the early infusions have these amazing simple tastes. While I do
focus on the early experience with any tea that I look at for this blog, this
tea may sound a little like a daily drinker because of its simplicity and
relative slow start, but it doesn’t start to shine until the fifth or sixth
infusion. At the time of writing this Crimson Lotus Tea is currently selling 200g
cake of Midas Touch for $80 and I hate how much I like this tea. While the
price and lack of samples may defer those who are interested. I do not know if I’d purchase an entire cake of this
since Crimson Lotus Tea has quite a few shengs that I want to sample, but this
is definitely one of their nicer 2015 teas.
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