Man Le Sun-Dried Red Mini Bing (曼勒紅小餅, Màn Lē Hóng Xiǎo Bǐng, "Man Le Red Small Bing") - This is a 2022 pressing of fresh red tea from Man Le, Li Shulin's new home. He relocated there after his home on Nannuo Mountain was destroyed by a fire in 2021. While he still maintains his plots on Nannuo Mountain and is still making tea from them, he has also begun using the local Man Le plants to make Sheng and Shu Pu'er, as well as Red Tea.
Man Le was a growing region of the Menghai Tea Factory in the mid 20th century. It was abandoned in the 1970s and the plants that currently grow there are the seed-propagated plants (and descendants thereof) that have been growing there since that time. Many of these plants are feral and grow in the midst of the local pine trees.
This tea has ended up being one of our favorites among the new Man Le teas from Li Shulin. It's balanced, sweet, malty, and has a distinctive fruity character and silky mouthfeel.
This mini bing includes 100g of pressed tea. The base color of the wrapper is red, indicating that it is a Red Tea. The ring and bat are white, indicating that this tea is made from standard leaves.
4 Reviews
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Wonderfully rich, complex, and comforting, and brews forever...
An intriguingly distinct red tea quite unlike anything I've experienced. Superficially it reminds me of Jin Jun Mei in the texture, complex mouthfeel, and rich acidity profile, but the resemblance ends abruptly there. It has none of the refined astringency of a Jin Jun Mei, and instead unfolds with a velvety, soft mouthfeel that lingers beautifully, coating the tongue and throat with a distinctly comforting sensation that reminds me more of good mixed source shu puerh. As to flavor, I have to agree with my fellow reviewers on the notes of lava cake, mulberry, berry compot, aged white tea, caramel, and sun dried mandarin (particularly on the exhale in the case of the latter), and I'd also add high end port, choke cherries, very ripe plum, something like a mix of light sherry and Rum Babancourt, a hint of camphor (particularly on the back edges of the throat and on the exhale), and a woodiness that reminds me simultaneously of French oak, the smell of Padouk sawdust, and fresh cut Mahogany. The aftertaste lingers for a very, very long time, and the leaves keep delivering and unfolding for a striking number of brews. I left this in a teapot (7 grams in a 150 ml porcelain pot) for over a week and kept steeping it two or three times a day, and lost track of steepings at twenty so I have no idea how many times I actually hit the leaves with hot water - the later steepings, while definitely weaker than the first ten or fifteen, were still rich and interesting enough to be more than worth drinking (the mandarin and wood notes become dominant with later brews, though the plum lingers...), and I ultimately tossed the leaf because I needed the pot and not because it wasn't still delivering perfectly drinkable cups. So, this is a steal for the price and Master Li has outdone himself, so I can't reccomend this little gem enough. I'm looking forward to enjoying it throughout the winter, since the rich flavor and distinctly medicinal feel should hit the spot and ward off the chill to lovely effect. All in all I'm entranced, and couldn't be happier so thanks a million to So Han and crew for supplying this lovely tea...
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Finally
I've been looking for a good pressed red tea and this checks all the boxes for me. I enjoy it.
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Great daily drinker
Deeply comforting! Reminds me of jugo de mora (mulberry juice?) I grew up drinking in Ecuador. There's some blueberry and blackberry compote, and a light "aged white tea" little something about it while retaining a nice acidity to it. The flavour is delicate (not "restrained" like it needs you to tinker with it), just elegant. Mouthfeel is fantastic and soothing. Makes for a great companion for transitioning into Spring ^_^
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Very nice red
The taste and experience of the tea is comforting, and a great tea for daily drinking. The aroma was... have you ever had a molten lava cake from chili's? The aroma was so rich and velvety, I smelled chocolate syrup, fudge, hints of ice cream and lots of caramel. So much caramel. The taste was malty and rich with dominating citrus notes of sun-dried mandarin, very reminiscent of a ganpu. I recommend this one and am glad to own this.
