Don Mei : Hey teaheads! This is Don from Mei
Leaf. In this video : Top Drawer Fermented
Tea. In this video we are going to be unveiling
and tasting our latest cooked Puerh. This
video is going to go under the "Single Tea
Tastings" and the "Drinking With Friends"
playlists. If at any point in time you enjoy
this video then please give the video the
thumbs-up. The more thumbs in the air the
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and if you haven't subscribed to our YouTube
channel yet [then] go click that button. I'm
here in the garden on a sunny day with Celine.
[TO CELINE] Say "Hello."
Celine : Hello everybody. [WAVING]
Don : It's been a rubbish summer in London.
Well, it's been a pretty rubbish summer in
London...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ... and any opportunity to get out in
the garden we are taking it. Today we are
going to be unveiling our latest ripe - or
cooked - Puerh cake. We love this.
Celine : [It's] my latest addiction, literally.
Don : Yeah. We love this tea. This is a really,
really, really great tea. So we're going to
be doing a full tasting, and without further
ado, let me show you this cake. [TO CELINE]
Or you can show the cake.
Celine : Okay.
Don : It's a stunner. It's a really beautiful
cake. It's got lots and lots of buds - really,
really tons and tons of buds. It's really
bud-heavy, [and] very high-grade. This is
Gong Ting grade; Gong Ting grade tea.
Celine : What does that mean?
Don : Gong Ting grade is generally considered
to be the highest grade of cooked Puerh, because
it's really rich in buds. It's [a] very fine
picking. So, you know with Sheng Puerh - with
"raw" Puerh - [the picking] tends to be a
bud and three [or] maybe four leaves. So you
get the big leaves and the big, thick buds.
But with cooked Puerh the more prized [picking]
is generally considered to be the buds and
the very young leaves, [and] not so much the
large leaves. So you remember "Sacred Owl"?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : "Sacred Owl" was our last [ripe] Puerh
cake.
Celine : Ripe Puerh.
Don : It was a long time ago. I know you've
been waiting a long time. But it was our last
ripe Puerh cake, and it was a Gu Shu. It was
really, really unusual, because you know,
making ripe tea from Gu Shu is considered
to be kind of unheard of.
Celine : MmmHmm.
Don : But we managed to find some guy who
[did] it.
Celine : Some batch. [laughter]
Don : But it was all really big leaves, remember?
Celine : It was big leaves, yeah.
Don : It was all, really big leaves. Remember?
Celine : It was all big leaves, yeah.
Don : It was all big leaves, and I think that
basically what they had done is they had taken
the bud and the first few leaves to make...
Celine : ...like good raw Puerh.
Don : [Yeah], probably raw Puerh. [Then] they
had saved the big leaves, and they had made
it into a fermented, cooked Puerh cake.
Celine : I wish they did that more often.
Don : I know, but you know. So, it was amazing,
because it was Gu Shu, but it was larger leaves.
This is really, really, really, young, young
pickings. So it's Gong Ting. Let's quickly
SCOPE it. [For] Season, this was picked in
spring 2012.
Celine : Okay.
Don : Spring 2012. Then what happened was
they fermented it - they cooked it. If you
don't know what I mean we've done articles
about cooked Puerh [and] I'll put some links
in the description below. But they fermented
it, and then they pressed it into cakes in
2013. So [in] 2013 it was pressed [into] cakes,
and then it's been aged for four years. The
aging with cooked Puerh does have an effect,
[but] not as big an effect as with raw Puerh,
but it does have some effect. So this is [a]
2012 picking.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : The Cultivar is the Da Ye Zhong, Assamica
cultivar, or variety. The Origin is Bu Lang.
[We] love Bu Lang, right?
Celine : Ah! Is it the same area where Bu
Lang Black is made?
Don : Yeah. We have lots of Puerh [teas] from
Bu Lang.
Celine : Oh.
Don : We've tasted lots of black teas from
Bu Lang. Bu Lang is one of the most consistent
areas in Yunnan, always producing really,
really high-quality tea. So this is from Bu
Lang in Yunnan province in China. The Picking,
as I said, is very young leaves and buds,
with a predominance of buds. So [there are]
lots of buds in this, which is great, and
the Elevation is about 1,0000 meters. So that's
your SCOPE. Let's get on with tasting. Do
you want to heat up this teaware here?
Celine : Yeah!
Don : We have a 200 [milliliter] Gai Wan here,
and we have 10 grams - so we're going quite
heavy. We've got 10 grams of the tea here.
We recommend about 5 grams per 100 [milliliters],
but you can play around with the parameters.
As always, please guys, if you buy this tea
[the] parameters that we [suggest] are put
on the wrapping, but this is just a starting
point. Make sure [that] when you get your
tea and you break them into [chunks], be very
careful. Break them into large chunks like
this, and then the easiest thing to do is
just kind of compress them gently with your
fingers, [and] give it a little wiggle. Then
it's kind of a nice, Zen, satisfying experience.
Celine : It is! It is. It's pretty satisfying.
Don : Take your time with it, [and] once it
starts to crumble...
Celine : Loosen up.
Don : ... then it goes much quicker, [doesn't]
it?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Try to be very kind of... not too heavy-handed.
Celine : Caring. [Be] caring with your tea.
[laughter]
Don : Yeah, exactly, Care for your leaves,
[and] you're going to have a nice experience.
If you rush it, and you crush them too much,
then you are going to...
Celine : Just get dust.
Don : ... you're going to impact the brew
a little bit. The texture of the tea is going
to be impacted a bit.
Celine : That's true.
Don : So it's worth taking your time. We haven't
really done this on this one. Oh, this one
came apart really nicely.
Celine : Ah.
Don : It's satisfying when you get one, and
you just crunch it, and it just falls apart.
Celine : I love it when you just bend it a
little bit, and then it just unravels like
that.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : It's so nice.
Don : So these cakes that we've got here [are]
400 gram cakes, so they're going to give you
a lot of servings - at least [like] 40 proper
Gong Fu servings with a large Gai Wan, if
you're going for like 100 [milliliters]. Or
[with] 150 [milliliters] then it will give
you, obviously, 60 or 80 servings, and you're
going to get lots of infusions out of this...
Celine : Mmm.
Don : ... Lots and lots of infusions. It doesn't
let you down.
Celine : Ah! It's so good, honestly. Like
everyday I've been thinking, "Okay, what shall
I have today?" It always comes up in my head.
It's just a yum-yum.
Don : A "yum yum"?
Celine : It's just a "yum-yum". [laughter]
Don : It's a "yum-yum". Do you want to show
these leaves to the camera?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Sorry. You get quite obsessed. There's
still pieces in there, but we're conscious
of time. I would normally spend a little bit
more time... Hold it... Hold it!
Celine : Holding! [laughter]
Don : Okay. Good. So [as for] the color of
the leaves, I would say, they're kind of auburn,
carob brown. You know, carob is that kind
of cocoa substitute.
Celine : Chocolate. Oh, yeah.
Don : [It’s] a carob brown, [with] nice
red [and] orange notes in there.
Celine : Copper.
Don : The buds are orange [and] copper. It's
a really, pretty, pretty tea.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : For a cooked Puerh [it's] very pretty.
Okay, can pour that water out.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Let's give it a schnifter.
Celine : Schnif, schnif.
Don : You go first.
Celine : [SMELLS TEA] Mmm!
Don : Watcha' gettin'?
Celine : I get the caves. You know, those
cooked notes. But then I get like a steamed
milk smell that comes through [laughter].
[It's] very comforting. [It's a] very comforting
smell.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : Ít's not so [much] kind of this
aged smell, you know?
Don : [SMELLS TEA] Yeah.
Celine : Ít's more creamy.
Don : Yeah. So, the overriding theme - you
will find in this tasting - is the level of
how gentle and easy-drinking this tea is.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : I don't mean that in a dilute way, [like],
"Oh, it's an easy-drinking green..." or, "[It's]
an easy-drinking Puerh tea..." [That's] so
simple." It's really, really delicious and
complicated, and it's got so many notes, but
it [just doesn't] have any of the spiky notes
that you might associate [with Puerh tea].
It doesn't have too much earthiness. There
is earthiness...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ... [but] it doesn't have too much of
the antique books and the cellar wood. It's
there, but there's a predominance of creaminess,
and cocoa... all of those kind of things that
are universal [and] that most people will
like.
Celine : Yeah. It's like, you know, usually
when you show a cooked Puerh to someone, the
first time they see it and they smell it,
they go, "Whoa! What is that!?"
Don : Yeah. Yeah.
Celine : Whereas with this one you kind of
close your eyes and you just smell it, and
you think it's like a hot chocolate and milk
kind of smell.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : It doesn't shock you in that same
way.
Don : So it's got cocoa,, but not too rich.
[It's] not like a Lapsang [Souchong] kind
of cocoa.
Celine : No.
Don : [SMELLS TEA] It's more this kind of
vanilla creaminess.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : [Like] evaporated milk.
Celine : Evaporated milk, yes.
Don : A little bit. Okay, let's put some water
in and smell the earth.
Celine : I think that's more spot on than
steamed milk. It's more [like] evaporated
milk.
Don : [It's] similar.
Celine : Eh...
Don : So with this tea - [as] with all cooked
Puerh teas ... Can I do it?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : I kind of want to get [it done].
Celine : [laugher] Sorry. I always overtake.
It's really bad. [laughter]
Don : With all cooked Puerh teas you want
to give it a rinse, and if you're doing it
with a Gai Wan [make] your Gai Wan gap a little
bit... don't be frightened to give it a bit
of space - not too much, obviously, because
they are small leaves. But there will be - because
it's fermented, [and] it's broken down - there
will be a lot of like dust that you collect.
So it's sometimes quite nice to just give
it a couple of quick rinses, very quick, just
to see if you can get rid of as much of that
powder as possible.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : Because that's inevitable with all fermented
tea. All right, you can have a sniff of this.
Celine : Does it give you - like if you have
less powder - does it give you more of [certain
types] of notes?
Don : Well, it does two things. When you have
less powder it's going to brew differently.
I mean, so if you have powder it's going to
brew a little bit more astringent. But I find
it's more the texture of it. I don't want
the texture of it to be affected.
Celine : Oh! I see what you're saying. Okay.
Don : Okay?
Celine : Yeah...yeah...yeah.
Don : Equally, I'm just going to give this
Gong Dao Bei a quick rinse, just because I
want to make sure I get rid of...
Celine : [SMELLS TEA] Ah! Okay. Now you get
the love of cooked Puerh [teas] - that foresty
smell that I really enjoy. I really enjoy
that.
Don : So it's freshened up, right?
Celine : Yeah. It's freshened up.
Don : [SMELLS TEA] Ah!
Celine : But again, it doesn't hit you with
this kind of intensity. It's just really lulling
you into it, I find.
Don : So [by] forest, what do you mean?
Celine : Like, it's not so much wet soil,
[but] it's more cavernous like minerality
and forest.
Don : Yeah. I'm getting wood, but I'm getting
more antique. There is antique wood.
Celine : Antique wood, yeah.
Don : Or [like] a cellar.
Celine : Like a cellar?
Don : Like the wood in a cellar, but really,
really ...
Celine : [SMELLS TEA] Oh my God! Now it smells
of fruit, like a Bourbon, or something. Smell
that.
Don : Right. Yeah. [SMELLS TEA] [It's] got
a bit of cask.
Celine : Cask, yeah.
Don : Yeah, a bit of wood cask.
Celine : It fits with the cellar thing.
Don : [SMELLS TEA] Cellars [and] wood casks,
but then there's a [slightly] acidic top note
if you breathe with short breathes. [There
are] little acidic notes to it, which is like
[a] sherberty fizz to it. [There's a] slight
sherberty fizz to it, and there's this creaminess
to it as well.
Celine : [SMELLS TEA] Ít's so weird when
you do this different smelling thing...
Don : Yeah.
Celine : ... short and long.
Don : [SMELLS TEA] So, salted fudge. [There's]
salted fudge, some sherbet, and cellar wood.
Celine : Yes. [There's] totally caramel and
salt.
Don : Yeah, caramel [and] salt, but more fudge,
I think - [those vanilla and] fudge notes.
Celine : You're just so bloody good with tasting
notes.
Don : I've sat with this tea a fair amount.
Celine : So have I! But I just drink it. I
just like [SLURPING GESTURE]
Don : No you don't. That's not true. You're
underselling yourself.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : Right. So, [for the] brewing time for
this, I would do [it] quite quick. We write
10 seconds on the brewing instructions, which
basically means [that] after about six or
seven seconds you're pouring, because you
want your 10 seconds to end here. So, it's
probably a bit over. I've done, probably,
about 15 seconds. I tend, I've noticed, to
go over...
Celine : [laughter] You want it strong!
Don : ... whenever I film. Do you want to
show the camera those leaves?
Celine : Yeah. It's so good.
Don : Hold it.
Celine : Holding it.
Don : Okay, [it's] very dark now. We're getting
into real mahogany browns, [which are] very,
very dark [leather] browns.
Celine : Can you see it?
Don : Yeah. That's good.
Celine : Okay.
Don : The liquor...
Celine : Holy moly!
Don : We'll get another shot of the liquor,
I think.
Celine : Ít's beautiful. [Let's] put it in
the glass, yeah.
Don : Let's put it in the glass... Here we
go. Oh, look at the color. [It's] like a very
ruby-brown color.
Celine : Oh, yeah.
Don : The sunlight is really nice. It catches
it really nicely. What are you looking at?
Celine : Pigeons [laughter]. They're so stupid,
because like Mishkin always catches them,
and I don't want them to get hurt.
Don : You have no idea the horror stories
we have with our cat and those big, fat pigeons.
You probably can't see, but those big, fat,
wood pigeons. They really should not be in
this garden.
Celine : They should not be here.
Don : Anyway, do you want to show the color
of the liquor? Hold it. So this is a very,
very ruby-brown, isn't it?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It's got real red notes to it - real
kind of vibrant, juicy, red, plummy, purpley,
red notes to it.
Celine : Yeah. I don't know if you can see
it, though. Can you see it?
Don : Well we'll try and get another shot
of it, anyway. Okay, so we've smelled the
dry leaves, we've looked at the dry leaves,
we've smelled the wet leaves...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ... we've look at the color of the liquor,
[so now] let's focus on texture.
Celine : MmmHmm.
Don : Texture first.
Celine : Drinking! [laughter]
Don : Texture first. Cheers everybody!
Celine : Cheers, to whatever you're drinking
today! [SIPS TEA]
Don : [SIPS TEA] Texture. [Let's] talk texture.
Celine : It's syrupy, I think. But it coats
your mouth... [laughter] I don't know what
else to say. It's thick, it's juicy, and syrupy.
Don : And the finish?
Celine : [It's] very clean. [It's] very clean
with a lingering of caramel. Yeah. It's like
having a fudge, and [then] afterwards having
that aftertaste.
Don : Hmm.
Celine : It's like that.
Don : Yeah. [The] texture, I would say, is
thick at the start. This tea is a classic
case of separating the experience into arrival
and finish, because when it hits your mouth
it's syrupy.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : When it hits your mouth it's thick and
syrupy.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : But it very quickly goes to a very clean,
slightly dry, quenching finish.
Celine : Yeah, the finish is...
Don : Yeah.
Celine : ...is drier, but in a weird way,
because it is...
Don : Yeah, I know what you mean.
Celine : ... it's like drinking water. You
know, [like] Don was saying, it's like syrupy
at the beginning, and the it's like water.
It just goes straight through. [It's] like
really fresh.
Don : Yeah, it's very fresh, exactly. So it
starts off thick and syrupy at the arrival...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ... but once you've swallowed it's very
fresh.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It gives you a very fresh sensation.
Celine : I think that's why it's so addictive,
you know?
Don : Yeah, maybe. It might be.
Celine : Because with some cooked Puerh [teas]
it's more thick... thick... thick, [laughter]
you know? Which is also really nice. But this
one just gives it that fresh [feeling] [laughter].
Don : So the thickness of this tea, in my
opinion, comes predominantly because it's
very bud-heavy.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : Because when you have bud-heavy teas
they tend to have more of a kind of syrupy
note to it.
Celine : Oh yeah?
Don : They tend to have it. Texturally, I
think it's also a lot to do with the hairs
on the actual buds.
Celine : On the buds?
Don : You know how they start to break down,
and it produces a thicker texture?
Celine : Mmm.
Don : So, you know, I do think that the bud
predominance is what gives it that thickness,
because this is thicker than "Sacred Owl"
was, but the finish is that classic Puerh
cleansing, cleaning, great digestive [which
is] really, really good after a meal, or with
a meal. [It's] something [that] you can eat
anything with this. It's really, really good.
We did a video last week - [and] I'll put
a link in the description below - where I
cooked, or I paired, food with a cooked Puerh.
Again, this would work. But this has much
more - let's talk about flavors - this has
much more dessert-like notes to it, doesn't
it?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : So let's talk flavors, while I brew
some more.
Celine : The funny thing with this tea is
[that] it really reminds me of - I don't know
if you guys had this as kids - but those cola
bottles? You know, those little squishy cola
bottles.
Don : Cola bottles, yeah.
Celine : Sweets? [laughter] Yeah, it really
reminds me of that.
Don : Which is interesting, because [for me]
that's quite subtle, but I do pick it up.
I think that [taste-wise] it's a combination
of cream, vanilla, malt...
Celine : Definitely.
Don : So that creaminess with that slight
saltiness - you know, with malted shakes.
You know, it's got this more [salty] taste
to it.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : So malt, vanilla, [and] cream.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : It still has, [for me], that little
slight sherberty fizz, and I think that's
my cola.
Celine : Oh, that's your cola side.
Don : Yeah, because when I was a kid those
cola bottles [used to] be dipped in [sherbert].
[Was] yours not dipped in sherbert?
Celine : Yeah...yeah...yeah, definitely. They
had both. They had the ones like that.
Don : Yeah, they have the plain ones, and...
So there's a kind of cola bottle - or that
cola taste - with vanilla, [and] with malt.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It's still got earthiness, but it's
really, really restrained compared to most
cooked Puerh [teas].
Celine : Yeah. Yeah.
Don : It's a very restrained earthiness, [and]
it's a very restrained cavernous kind of taste.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : It's there. It's still there, obviously,
in spades, because of the fact that it's a
cooked Puerh. But it's just so well made.
This is really, really supremely well made,
and our sourcing of this tea - the person
who recommended this factory to us - this
guy is like one of our gurus in China.
Celine : Yeah. The stuff he has.
Don : The stuff he has is incredible.
Celine : [laughter]
Don : It's just really, really well made.
There's no mustiness here. There's no funky
flavors. [It's] just supremely well made.
The age of these tea trees, I forgot to mention.
This is not a Gu Shu. This is 80-year-old
tea trees, so it's still kind of aged - middle-aged
I would say. It's young to middle-aged. It's
not garden tea. It's not 20, 30 [or] 40 year-old
tea trees. This is 80-year-old tea trees,
so it has that substance. It has that. It's
not a Gu Shu, which is anything over 200 [to]
250 years old. So it's kind of middle-aged
range, but really supremely well made.
Celine : It is so well made.
Don : Let's dig into those flavors a bit more.
[SIPS TEA]
Celine : How a tea is processed is so important!
Don : Especially with cooked [Puerh] - especially
with cooked - because with cooked...
Celine : Or aged - cooked or aged.
Don : Yeah, but aged depends on where it was
kept, and the storage. But with cooked it's
all about making sure that that warehouse
- [where] they're cooking, or ripening, the
tea - is kept perfect, in terms of...
Celine : It could so easily like...
Don : Yeah, [like] if some stray bacteria
gets in, and it's fermenting, really the wrong
kind of flavor notes, it needs to be kept
in the perfect controlled conditions so that
they're [the right] bacterial and fungal fermentation
is happening; the right kind of fermentation
is happening to really bring out all of these
notes. So we're getting cream, we're getting
vanilla, we're getting malt, we're getting
cola, we're getting some antique wood, some
books - a little bit of kind of paper...
Celine : [There are] books a little bit. Yeah.
Don : Anything else?
Celine : I get the barrel coming through again;
like a bourbon barrel coming through.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : I get [a] slight cherry fruitiness
to it.
Don : Yup. Yeah.
Celine : You know?
Don : Yeah. Yeah. A little plumminess - a
little plumminess, I would say.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Plums [and] cherries. Yeah.
Celine : "Coca-cola" [laughter].
Don : So "Cherry Coke", Yeah.
Celine : Yeah...yeah...yeah. Exactly.
Don : Yeah, definitely, on the sides of my
tongue [there's] a little bit of "Cherry Coke"
kind of tang, or sweetness. The other thing
that I'm noticing with this tea is that [there's]
lots of spices in here.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Like I would say there's kind of a little
bit of the sweetness of star anise, or the
sweetness of some cinnamon.
Celine : I was going to say that, yeah.
Don : But I think that that kind of [is] what
[the] cola --
Celine : That's the thing!
Don : I think that's what we're trying to
say
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It's that cola thing.
Celine : Yeah. Yeah.
Don : Because cola is a kind of...
Celine : A mixture.
Don : I know that it's been, you know, made
into this horrendous, sugary...
Celine : Drink.
Don : ...drink, that is really not good to
drink, but cola itself is essentially originally
made up from a variety of herbs...
Celine : Right. Yeah.
Don : Right? So [it's] different herbs brought
together.
Celine : It's like when they made those like
more natural cola versions, haven't they?
Don : Yeah.
Celine : Ít is like a mixture of different
herbs.
Don : Yeah, exactly -- and a bit of cocaine,
originally.
Celine : Oh yeah!
Don : But that's a different story. That's
a different story. So yeah, it's got those
herbal sweetnesses that are reminiscent of
cola. It's not [the] predominant flavor. I
would say the predominant flavor is vanilla
malt, [with] some of the woodiness.
Celine : [It's like] vanilla-malt cola, because
I really get the cola.
Don : Which brings us to the name of this
tea, and the artwork, which Celine has done.
Celine : I was enjoying the artwork a lot..
Don : Yeah, I could tell. It took a while.
Celine : [laughter] Yeah, it took ages!
Don : All right. Do you want to reveal this
to the camera? I will...
Celine : Sorry about the wait guys! And I'll
put it the right way.
Don : So, there you go.
Celine : Wow.
Don : All right. Hold it there. Hold it there.
So this is ... Oops! For some reason my phone
is not focusing. My phone is not focusing.
Celine : Focus on!
Don : Okay, now it's focusing. Okay, so we're
calling this guy the "Malt Geezer". [So] "geezer",
in the UK, is a term for, basically, a 
guy who's kind of got street-smarts, right?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : A bit of a lad, a bit of a "geezer".
It can be used as positive or derogatory,
but usually it's quite...
Celine : It's usually kind of a sweet thing.
Like [it's] like not sweet, but like...
Don : It's usually kind of positive. It's
like, "Ah, that guy's a geezer."
Celine : Like a lad.
Don : Like he's a geezer. He knows his way
around.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : He's got his wherewithal.
Celine : He knows his hood.
Don : [Yeah], exactly.
Celine : He's friendly. He's fine.
Don : It's a really London kind of terminology.
Celine : Yeah. [laughter]
Don : "Oh, he's a geezer. That guy's a geezer."
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Right?
Celine : Yeah.
Don : I know in the States it has a slightly
different meaning.
Celine : Oh, does it?
Don : I think it means kind of an old man,
[like] a kind of cranky old man - which kind
of works as well.
Celine : [laughter]
Don : You know? Maybe I'm wrong. You guys
in the States, let us know what "geezer" means.
I think it's slightly more derogatory.
Celine : Oh, no!
Don : No, but I quite like that - the kind
of cranky old man.
Celine : He is a bit of a cranky old man.
Don : So he's a bit of a crank old man. So
we've taken a buffalo... So show it again.
It's a buffalo - a cranky old geezer.
Celine : Yum... yum... yum.
Don : He's not that old, but he's a buffalo,
and he is [an] ice cream - or milkshake - salesman.
Hold it in one place, because Í've got to
focus on it.
Celine : Sorry.
Don : So he's selling milkshakes, [and] cola
floats. You can see we've pulled in all the
ideas of the tasting notes. [We've got] vanilla
cola floats. We've got milkshakes. We've got
lots of detail in this artwork. You can take
a look if you go online. You can see the different
details on the artwork. But essentially our
thinking was that this really tastes of vanilla
cola floats. You know when you take Coca-cola,
and then you take vanilla ice cream and put
it on -- it's been ages since I've had one
of those.
Celine : Oh my God! Yeah.
Don : But this is essentially like a malted
cola, vanilla float. So we wanted to explore
that idea, and Celine came up with the idea
of this buffalo, because it's kind of like
a little bit of a grouchy - but kind of funny
- character to serve you your...
Celine : Ice cream man.
Don : ... your ice cream. [It's] your ice
cream man, [in] either an ice cream truck,
or a diner.
Celine : Puerh shakes.
Don : So yeah, [the] malted Puerh shakes.
So that was our idea. This is the "Malt Geezer".
The finish on this is really interesting.
I don't know if you feel it, but I get this
quite dry, slightly itchy, sensation...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ...on the back - just on the back of
my throat here.
Celine : Ít's not uncomfortable.
Don : No!
Celine : It's just [that] it's weirdly, slightly
drying in that back bit, considering it was
so smooth coming in, and going through, and
yeah. But it's not.
Don : It kind of reminds me of, you know if
you do a shot of like a hard liquor? Like
a rum or a whisky, and you get that little
[kind of]...
Celine : Slight burn?
Don : ... slight burn that's just lingering
at the back of your throat. What's quite nice
about that is [that] it kind of makes you
want to drink more.
Celine : Mmm! Yeah.
Don : It's quite addictive. It makes you want
to go back for some more. So I really actually
like that - that little catch in my throat.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : That little dry catch in my throat - just
there. If it was all over it would be too
much.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : [But] just there, it's nice. But [on]
the sides of my tongue it's [quite] juicy,
and it's got a little bit of a kind of carbonated
burn. You know when you take a fizzy drink,
and you get that kind of tingle?
Celine : Oh yeah!
Don : But quite like a hard tingle. I mean,
you take carbonated water and you kind of
have that drink, and it gives you that slight
burn on the sides -- I'm not really selling
this well; "burn" sounds wrong. But it's that
nice, slightly... you know...
Celine : But not in here, but like... What
are you saying?
Don : No, I'm getting it on the sides of my
tongue.
Celine : Oh! Oh no, I know what you mean.
Don : I'm getting the slight, kind of, whisky
scratchiness on the back...
Celine : Yeah. Yeah.
Don : ... and then this kind of slight carbonated
fizz on the sides of my tongue, and that's
making me produce saliva on the sides of my
tongue.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : So I'm getting this kind of [fizzy],
juicy sensation, which again, brings out this
whole cola idea. You're holding that in a
really weird way.
Celine : Oh yeah! It is true.
Don : [laughter] Like a pencil.
Celine : [laughter]
Don : You're going to draw with it. You're
so used to it...
Celine : Maybe I'll start doing a new style
of holding, you know?
Don : Yeah. [Show] the camera this. This is
something that's coming in. This is going
to be something that is going to be launched
very soon... Hold on, I'm not focus... Now
I am...So Japanese teaware is coming, and
this is something we picked up that we're
using as a Gong Dao Bei.
Celine : From our latest Japanese trip.
Don : Yeah. So videos from Japan are coming.
I know we get a lot of requests for it. They
are coming. Let's drink some more. You can
see how dark this liquor is. You're going
to get tons of infusions out of this.
Celine : Cheers!
Don : Now, as it starts to go through the
different infusions, more of those cola notes
are coming out, [and] more of the freshness.
Now I'm getting a bit more minerality out
of it, [and] a little bit more rockiness is
coming.
Celine : [There's a] slight mentholiness - a
slight like freshness, you know, which I really
like.
Don : [SIPS TEA] [There's] some antique books,
[like] some of those library notes; the cooked
Puerh library notes.
Celine : But not too much.
Don : Not too much.
Celine : Not too much.
Don : No, not too much. [There's] always this
creaminess - always this creaminess, especially
through the nose. [There's] a little bit of
cocoa through the nose, as well. But it's
the creaminess. It's this fudgy, [vanilla-like],
malty...
Celine : [laughter] Caramel.
Don : That's why this is such an easy-drinker.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Because really, there's like nothing
that is risque.
Celine : No.
Don : It's just so pleasant.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : You know, that vanilla, malty, creaminess
through the nose, is this overriding...
Celine : It's so yummy.
Don : It's just so... I think that [if you
paired] this with some desserts, [like] if
you paired this with [anything] that you would
mix with vanilla ice cream...
Celine : Yeah.
Don : ... would work very well. Like a pecan
pie, or something like that would work very
well.
Celine : Yes! Pecan pie with this tea! How
yum-yum! Sorry, I'm saying that a lot today.
This is my new word, [laughter], "yum-yum".
Don : "Yum-yum"? That's a [laughter] highly
advanced word that you're using, "the yum-yum".
Celine : Í'm regressing to my childhood.
Don : It's good to regress. We like regressing.
Okay, so what about effects? Let's talk effects.
We've talked about the texture. We're going
to smell the empty cup in a little bit.
Celine : Mmm.
Don : Let's talk about effects. You've been
drinking this tea a fair amount.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : What have you noticed?
Celine : Ah! Okay, it's weird, because like
usually in the morning I like to get a raw
Gu Shu to give me the energy boost. But sometimes
- like especially with this one - I feel like
it does give you a bit of energy, but a grounded
energy. Like, I feel awake, but not hyped.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : [It's] a really nice tea effect,
I think.
Don : Yeah, I agree with you. It's an interesting
one for me, because with cooked Puerh [teas]
generally you're talking about very cleansing,
kind of quite calming, [and] quite grounding.
That's the general theme with cooked Puerh
[teas], and that certainly is the same here.
It certainly is true [that] pairing this with
food [it's a] really good digestive. We've
had meals with this, so [it's] a great digestive.
It really helps to make you feel clean, and
make you feel refreshed. But, for me, it definitely
does have a very, kind of, I would say "grounding",
but a little bit of a kind of happier...
Celine : It's a social...
Don : It's quite social. It's not energy.
It's definitely not like a Gu Shu, or a green
tea, where it gives you that...
Celine : No.
Don : It's definitely not super high in caffeine,
[but] it gives you this "feel good" feeling.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It's like a feel good [where] you kind
of want to kick back and have a chat.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : It's a real social...
Celine : Social... round the edges. Like you
don't feel edgy.
Don : Yeah.
Celine : You just feel happy, and social,
and chill.
Don : Yeah. So I would kind of equate it - in
the alcohol world, a little bit - to kind
of, if Gu Shu is a tequila ...
Celine : Yeah. [laughter]
Don : You know, [where] things can get a bit
crazy with a Gu Shu. If Gu Shu is a tequila,
this is more like you're sitting back and
you're having a dark rum.
Celine : Oh yeah.
Don : You know? It's not like a super-drunk
feeling, but just that nice, mellow, social,
uplifted... you want to have a chat.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : We've had some great like social...
Celine : Great conversations.
Don : ...social conversations with this tea.
It's a really nice social drink, so don't
just use it as a digestive.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : In fact, [it's] like a cognac, right?
Celine : Like a cognac.
Don : So, like you have your meal, you have
this, and you sit and you get slightly happier,
[with] a little bit of an effect, and its
social, and it's nice, and it's mellow, but
not sleepy, right?
Celine : Yeah, exactly.
Don : It's a really nice effect. I've grown
to really love this tea for it's effect, as
well.
Celine : Yeah, and I wonder if the fact that
it's like the mellowness is from the taste
of the tea, because it's quite [a] rich, kind
of... you know?
Don : No, again, I think it's the buds.
Celine : It's the buds.
Don : Because buds tend to be higher in theanine.
Celine : Oh, right.
Don : Well, okay. [It's] the buds, and then
even lower leaves. But those buds tend to
be very high in theanine, especially if they're
picked quite early...
Celine : Ah...
Don : ... and [the theanine] hasn't transformed
too much into the catechins. So if it's an
early-picked, and it's buds, it's going to
have a little bit more theanine, and so it
gives you that little...
Celine : Nice.
Don : ... feel-good mood enhancement, and
that's [a] really nice aspect of this tea.
Okay, let's have a sniff of the empty cup.
[SMELLS TEA]
Celine : It's one of those teas I don't want
to rush [laughter].
Don : No, I know. But these guys probably
don't want us to spend three hours drinking.
Celine : For you. I downed it for you.
Don : [laughter] [You can't] really see the
definition of the leaves too much in this
shot. We'll try and get another shot of it.
But it is [a] really beautiful, nice, dark-chocolate
brown.
Celine : Yeah. If you do get it, even a "taster",
breathe through your... like close your mouth
and breathe through your nose, after you've
had a few cups, [and] it's so nice.
Don : What are you getting?
Celine : The taste that comes through when
you breathe through your mouth.
Don : Breathe through your nose, you mean.
Celine : Uh, through your nose.
Don : What taste do you get?
Celine : Vanilla and cola [laughter].
Don : Yeah. It is the malt.
Celine : [laughter] Again.
Don : It's the malt. The smell of the empty
cup is an interesting one. It kind of comes
at you from nowhere. You're not expecting
it. It's got a kind of burnt note to it.
Celine : I get malt, like Horlicks.
Don : Yeah, exactly! It's like malt.
Celine : Horlicks [laughter].
Don : Yeah. You just gave a brand name [laughter].
Celine : Again, it was "top stock"
Don : So it's got powdered malt, which has
this salty note to it, [SMELLS TEA] but then
there's this burnt note to it as well. [It's]
this kind of slightly fiery note to it; a
little bit [like] hot coals.
Celine : Oh! [Like] when you're at a camp
fire, but it's like sunny, and it's the next
day...
Don : Yeah.
Celine : ... and like the coals are off.
Don : But it's a bit cleaner than that. It's
not so much of a fireplace.
Celine : No, but that's what I mean. It's
like the next day, when it doesn't smell smoky
any more.
Don : Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly, when it's
all died down.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : I, kind of, in my tasting notes, I wrote
that it smells like a sauna - like a wooden
sauna.
Celine : Oh! I think that's more like it.
[It's] like a slightly wet wood?
Don : Yeah. Well, I don't know if it's wet
or dry wood, but you know when you walk into
a sauna and you've got [those] hot stones
there. [It's] that baked, hot stone - that
slightly...
Celine : Oh, yeah...yeah...yeah. It is more...
Don : That fired, burnt [smell] to it. [SMELLS
TEA]
Celine : I't's quite hard, but it's more minerally
than woody.
Don : Yeah, exactly. It's more hot stones,
[but] not charcoal.
Celine : No. No, you're right..
Don : It's a real, kind of, interesting. I've
never really smelt that on an empty cup before.
Celine : Because it's not smokey at all.
Don : No, it's not smokey at all.
Celine : It's definitely more rock minerals.
Don : Yeah. So [it's like] hot sauna - [dry]
or wet, I don't have enough sauna experience
to know. I'm not a big sauna fan.
Celine : No. It's too hot. [laughter]
Don : Too hot there.
Celine : I walk in like... "Come out!"
Don : Like, "Ah! Time to go!"
Celine : [laughter] Yeah.
Don : Okay. So that's it. That's "Malt Geezer".
It's available now, [and] we'll put a link
in the description below. Let us know what
you think.
Celine : Yeah.
Don : Let us know your tasting notes. We're
always interested to hear what you think,
and write a review on MeiLeaf.com. We always
get the tasting notes, and we can read through
them.
Celine : Yeah, and you get points, so you
know... [laughter]
Don : You get points. That's true. [You get]
seeds given to you for writing tasting notes.
So let us know what you think.
Celine : Yeah, and if you've never tried a
ripe I would definitely recommend getting
a taste to try it out, you know?
Don : Yeah.
Celine : This one is really easy.
Don : [Yeah]. This is one that I think will
be qute universally liked by everybody who
- even people who are not used to drinking
ripe Puerh teas. So, we love it. It's "Malt
Geezer". We hope you love it too. That's it
teaheads. If you made it to the end of this
video then please give the video the thumbs-up.
Check out our YouTube playlists [and] let
us know if there are any videos that you would
like us to make. If you're ever in London
then come and visit us in Camden to say "Hi!"
and taste our wares. If you have any questions
or comments then please fire them over. Other
than that, this is Celine. I'm Don from Mei
Leaf. Thank you for being a part of the revelation
of true tea.
Celine : Thank you.
Don : Stay away from those teabags, keep drinking
the good stuff, and spread the word, because
nobody deserves bad tea. [WAVING] See ya!
Celine : Bye! [WAVING]
