Are the new raw puers from Mei Leaf any good?

[@jang.1185]

I have the Luminary Misfit,. From my experience I can say that it is very good young sheng. The tea has nice texture and mouthfeel, but the most I appreciate the complexity of the aroma.

[@ZootedTMan]

That tea is incredibly fruity, definitely a favorite of mine.

[@NorthCountryOutdoorGuys]

I can’t get into puerhs. I’m relatively new to true tea and learning tons thanks to Don and Co. I had a packet of Luminary Misfit. Had a session early on in my tea journey which probably wasn’t smart as I had no idea what to expect. Don’s descriptions had me expecting way more than the reality. Then I tried LM again later in my journey. While not as repulsive the second time, I didn’t enjoy it. I seem to prefer white teas and then oolongs (but only some of them).

[@tearush]

There are a lot of puer lovers out there that took some time in their tea journey before they started appreciating them. Raw puer can also be a lot more finicky to brew, so it takes a little bit to work out your personal brewing style. But I also know some very experienced drinkers who never got into them. White tea and oolongs are a large enough rabbit hole on their own to capture your attention for years to come.

[@vgamedude12]

I personally get more flavor and punch out of puer than white tea. I've had a few underwhelming white teas myself.

[@kilgoretrout413]

I love Luminary Misfit but I get what you’re saying about mei leaf tasting notes 📝 sometimes they are so detailed and extravagant 😂😂 it’s best to just try the tea 🍵 for what it is rather than read the notes and go in expecting something

[@impromptu3155]

So just go ahead drinking white and oolongs, I'm a raw puerh lover but it is a fact that some people just cannot appreciates the astringent and grassy notes of it. White and oolongs are strong and diverse in aroma, suit for new beings pretty well.

[@mrshou112]

I think the problem is Don from Mei Leaf hypes his tea up too much. He adds like 20 different flavor notes and people seem to expect that. His prices are also questionable for the quality he provides. I suggest checking out YunnanSourcing,White2Tea or TeaVivre. You'll get to experience tea that is as good or better for cheaper. And even the, you may just not be a Puer tea person. Not a lot of people are. It's a polarizing area of tea, even in China. Of course Don would never make such a claim as he wants you to buy into his hype.

[@johnsmith-ch7fg]

Your right; I've avoided PuErh for about 10 years but thought I should try again and LM sounded like about the best introduction or likely candidate to try and enjoy this catagory of tea. I enjoyed it and sort of started to crave it a bit but not sure I'd invest in a whole cake and since this seems a non typical PuErh I won't likely risk wasting money on further PuErhs when their are other catagories of tea I'm passionate about

[@noahkoch9153]

I have a Luminary Misfit cake and I'd say it's a pretty solid sheng, but not the best young sheng that ML has stocked since I began buying their teas. I remember their Potion Scholar tea (sold out now unfortunately) being one of the best I ever had.

[@tearush]

I loooove Potion Scholar. That one and Canopy Flasher come to mind as recent favorites.

[@willpopemusic]

Yeah, Potion Scholar is amazing but my cake is looking a slim 😬

[@chrisladouceur4093]

I missed out on potion scholar unfortunately. And wasn’t big on canopy flasher, left it to age

[@kilgoretrout413]

I’m another Potion 🧪 Scholar 👨🏻‍🏫 fan And Cross Motion Conductor ❤

[@chrisladouceur4093]

My favs have been nightforest muse and nectar raider for shengs. Nuzzle diver was great for a budget cake too

[@kimberleyskyusu]

I can't have puerh due to allergies i have, but i still enjoy learning all about it and i 100% feel like im missing out especially with the puerh that don stocks at mei leaf. Both of these sound fantastic but i think. If i were able to try them i think Luminary Misfit would be my favourite.

[@Mandragara]

What allergies if I may ask? Only allergy I know of is wheat inoculated hei cha

[@kimberleyskyusu]

@@Mandragara I'm allergic to mushrooms and because of that I have to stay away from molds and things like that. I would assume that it's the processing of the puerh and the wet piling that interacts with my allergies

[@Mandragara]

@@kimberleyskyusu Aaah that makes sense then, a mycoprotein allergy or something. I know someone who was hospitalised over Quorn (vegan meat replacement). I think you can still have young sheng puer though - no wet piling etc

[@kimberleyskyusu]

@@Mandragara I'm planning to try some sheng this year and see if it still had the same effect as the raw puerh. i cant have mycoprotein either and had a real bad reaction to Quorn when in was younger

[@Mandragara]

@@kimberleyskyusu Well on paper young sheng puer should be basically the same as a green tea.

[@Salaaran]

It's interesting to watch this one, I recently tried a sample of Luminary Misfit a couple of days ago. It was really a nice tea, and I would guess it is an amazing tea for the vast majority of tea drinkers out there. my only fear with the tea is that it is a little too light for me, at least if I were to try and age that one, I think it is much more suited for buy and drink. However, I also enjoy massively powerful teas in terms of taste, so maybe the harsh bulangs have killed my tastes haha!

[@tearush]

Haha, maybe! My best sessions with it have been while using porcelain which has helped pick up on all the unique notes happening. Def not something that's going to punch you in the face.

[@BlastedOffRawPuerh88]

The young gushu from ML is out of this world. Same with breezy bohemian 🔥

[@tearush]

Haven't tried Breezy Bohemian yet. Will have to add a sample to our next order!

[@BlastedOffRawPuerh88]

@@tearush magical tea no doubt 🧙‍♂️ enjoy

[@kail9757]

Great video. I stumbled across your channel just recently, and really enjoy it. I am also rather new to Pu-erh, and a few days ago opened a cake of "Jade Star VII" and "Luminary Misfit". Jade Star was a big success right from the beginning. LM is a bit more difficult: Yes, the fruity notes are very noticeable and really cool. However, if steeped slightly too long, it immediately becomes pretty bitter; and even the best infusions had some bitterness - both in a gaiwan and in Chaozhou clay. Brews with steep time of less than 5-10 sec. were OK or even nice. Anything longer became too bitter for me. Though, as I said, I'm new to Pu-erh, so this doesn't necessarily say much about LM. In Mey Leaf's video, Don is talking about 30-40 sec. brews ... that sounds like a lot to me. How are you brewing it? In the video, one cannot really see the steep time.

[@kail9757]

PS: I used Chaozhou teapot, because my Yixing pot filters out too much of the brighter, fruitier notes with this tea. But it was an interested experience nevertheless.

[@tearush]

Thank you! And yes, the bitterness is what can drive a lot of people away from fresh raw puer. With a ratio of 5 grams per 100 ml of water my steeps usually look something like 20, 10, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45 sec. But obviously it also depends a lot on the exact puer. One of the things that intrigues me so much is the process of learning a tea so that you can get to that perfect brew eventually. And always walking the line of extracting more flavor versus not extracting too much bitterness. Hope you enjoy your journey with LM, I've been having a lot of fun with it recently!

[@kail9757]

@@tearush Thanks! 5g/100ml is also my default ratio. As for the steeping time, I think for now I'll stick to shorter steepings for young sheng. But as you said, experimenting and learning is part of the fun. (And, in this case, probably also observing how the tea might change/age in the future ... which sounds pretty cool, though I'm not sure that the cake will survive that long. :-) )

[@herohalv4543]

I really like lovestruck rascal, spicier/earthier at the start to more honeyed later on I agree that it's just generally pleasant to drink :)

[@a.thales7641]

A nice couple drinking a nice couple of tea. if this isn't wonderful (nice) what is? :D

[@someonerandom256]

I really enjoyed Luminary Misfit. Love Struck Rascal is a little too well rounded for me, if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'll drink it all day long, I just would prefer something a little more interesting. It would make a great daily driver.

[@tearush]

Totally get it. I just had a session with LM today. Lot of fun!

[@hamsteren2509]

Thx for the vid

[@charlesperez9976]

Luminary Misfit is a fine experience indeed! I have been to London,just a few months ago,went to Mei leaf in Camden town,purchased a most aromatic dancong. You must try the grand master ripe Puerh. It is insane. 2010,Bing Dao ripe,Gushu.

[@aesopsock7447]

Be careful with the jiansui cups. If you use them with clay teapot/gaiwan then it takes too much from the tea.

[@iBuzzinga]

I feel ML tries to boost their prices by calling a lot of their teas GuShu material.

[@tearush]

My general rule is to completely ignore any claim of tea tree age.

[@Acc_Hugh]

that said, can GuShu actually be priced at taidi rates?