2000 Kunming Red Mark Iron Beeng – Tea Review - B

2000 Kunming Red Mark Iron Beeng – Tea Review - B

Zhou Yu: This tea was still very active, but also so pleasant to drink now. It impressed me a lot. It tasted like a new tea, though anyone could tell that it had also undergone some fermentation. I let all the teas cool down in the competition brewing, and this one seemed to lose much of its fragrance over time, as if it peaked during the initial brewing. Still, I enjoyed this tea a lot.

Lu Li Zhen: The fragrance of this tea wasn't bad at all. It was the sweetest of all the samples in this review. It had very strong hui gan. There was some roughness in the mouth, though. I think this is probably due to an incomplete sa cheen (kill-green frying during the processing). Otherwise, I thought it was a good tea.

Chen Zhi Tong: Right after I poured the hot water over the leaves, the aroma was discernable all around, and that was in fact its strongest point. I found the liquor to be rather mellow. It seemed as if the leaves didn't reach the elegance that greater quality raw materials should. Being younger, one may be able to discern the region they came from more easily, but this tea didn't have any characteristics from any of the famous mountains. The buds also appeared mediocre and weren't delivering enough sweetness. The hui gan and cha yun were average at best. In the end, I left feeling like I was drinking a sample from some large production of tea made in great quantities at average quality.

Chen Gan Bang: This tea had a strong aroma with a bit of a wild fragrance. It wasn't tender like the previous one. It also wasn't mellow, despite its age, which I found rather uncharacteristic of Puerh. The amber liquor was of average quality with nothing that stood out above the other teas. Upon entering the mouth, it presented wild sensations, often bitter and difficult to accept. This tea definitely hasn't been tamed and doesn't transform in a pleasant way either, with flavors and sensations all over the place. It would be interesting to review this tea again after several years.

He Jing Cheng: Its liquor and flavor weren't bad, with a slight smokiness (yen wei) that transformed in a pleasant way. The hui gan was okay. The leaves were nice, complete and appeared mature. The tea was patient and enjoyable. I thought that this tea was the best in this review, as it was strong and enjoyable now and also had a lot of room for improvement later.