Lancang Ancient Tea Company 2017 "Man Nong Shan" Ripe Puerh

A very powerful and premium ripe cake featuring 2-6 year aged material from old trees in Man Nong mountain.

Selected material from old trees was accumulated over the 2012 to 2016 spring harvests, with each year's picking fermented separately after picking, then blended and pressed in 2018.

If there was any doubt as to Lancang's mastery of ripe puerh processing, this reference-level shou puerh should put it to rest. Velvety, intensely aromatic and endlessly sweet with powerful qi, this is Menghai-style shou at its finest.

[For a side-by-side tasting of single-origin raw and ripe, processed by the same producer, we suggest ordering the "Mannong Sheng-Shou Tasting" set from the menu.]

TASTE PROFILE 

Steeped quickly, it is ineffably sweet and rich, a coating of burnt toffee around a core of 85% dark chocolate brownie. Creamy and full-bodied with the tinge of Menghai bitter exceptionally well-integrated with the sticky sweet topnotes and a intense coffee backbone, like a beautiful (warm) affogatto dessert. 

Pushed hard, a sharper mineralic and flinty character emerges, accompanied by camphor and a cooling minty huigan, which some may prefer. No matter what, the texture remains thick, syrupy and velvety. There is plenty of substance here for aging, but for now the complexity and refinement is already impressive.