The 2018 Mahei Owl Sheng Puerh is one of the first semi-expensive puerh tea cakes I bought when I started drinking loose-leaf tea. It was my favorite sheng puerh back then because it was really sweet, and I thought it would be a good idea to see how it has changed since then.
2018 Mahei Owl Sheng Puerh
This tea is a yearly production by Sun Sing Tea in Hong Kong; they make a different version each year and put a different animal on the wrapper. I really like the colors and overall design of this one. It has to be my favorite wrapper of all the cakes I have.
It comes from Mahei Village in Yiwu and is known for its sweetness. That is also what I experienced when drinking this tea in 2020:
Good that I wrote an article about it back then because all I remember about this tea is that it was really good because of an intense sweetness. I tasted a sample and knew I just had to get a full cake.
I wanted to enjoy a peaceful and quiet Sunday morning today and thought it would be nice to have this one again to see how it has changed/aged over the years. I don’t have professional puerh storage, so it will be interesting to see what natural Belgian storage has produced.
Tea tasting
I used around 6 grams for my 120ml zisha teapot, boiled water, and put on some music while brewing. I really like the album ‘Raku’, by PC Davidoff, during a tea session.
Smelling the dry leaves gave me notes of dry wood and sweet berries.
Rinsing the leaves completely changed the aroma, resulting in notes of an old church with a hint of grass and a touch of strawberries.
I smelled the leaves again after the first infusion, and the aroma had changed again. Now I got notes of apple tobacco.
Delicate first infusion (15 sec). I get some light notes of dry hay that turn into a strawberry sweetness. There is an aftertaste, but it does not last long.
Second infusion (20 sec): a bit sweeter and lasts longer. The Qi is noticeable in this one, but it lacks a bit in flavor.
Third infusion (25 sec): the liquor of this one seems thicker. I can feel it flow through my whole body, but still lacking a bit flavor-wise. It offers a slight minerality as soon as the liquor touches my tongue. Still, it is enjoyable and perfect to start a lazy Sunday.
Fourth infusion (40 sec): no big changes; still subtle but warming with slight notes of hay and a light sweetness.
Conclusion
My storage conditions are on the drier side, so changes are not that quick. I feel this cake is in sort of hibernation, if that makes sense.
The tea has definitely changed and become less sweet. I still feel some of the freshness of a young sheng, but definitely not as pronounced as in 2020.
Nothing stands out flavor-wise, as everything is subtle. However, this is not a bad thing and shows the tea is evolving.
I thought it would have been more aged by now, but I guess my storage is not good enough for that. I guess it needs more time in these conditions.