Two Root Beer Puerhs Five Years Removed

Here I want to take a look at two root beer puerhs five years removed: ’10 Tiger, MK and the ’05 Qizibing, XH.  The root beer class of puerhs express vanilla tempered by herbal notes that give the impression of that hallowed beverage of 19th-c cowboy saloons.

The Tiger typifies MK’s quality productions.  Stone pressed, The Tiger shows that the factory exercised an added measure of care to make it aesthetically pleasing.  Hailing from the aggressive side of the Lincang region, The Tiger’s notes are floral, characteristic of productions from Fengqing and DaXue Mt.  The hallmark Fengqing offering in the Puerh Junky collection is the Lunar Series from 6FTM.  These are feisty puerhs that’ll grow hair on your chest.  By contrast, MKs tend to be softer around the edges, much more refined, less astringent, with a more complex ensemble of flavours.

Xinghai TF productions seem to be all over the map.  The nondescriptly titled Qizibing is a recipe about which not much information is provided beyond being from Menghai.  I’ve rather concluded that it is an assortment of Bulang villages given it’s straightforward presence and lack of florality.  The cake itself looks like a standard recipe cake that been thrown together with some buds, some leaves, and stems.  The compression is perfectly appropriate, flecking apart easily with the knife.

Generally, root beer doesn’t express, if at all, until a production has quite a few years under its belt. Both productions have been Kunming stored, but the Tiger is one of the most aggressively aged KM productions I’ve encountered.  That said, it’s lost none of character and depth or if it has still possesses a great deal mellowed by a great deal of heat.  The QZB’s age is what’s to be expected of a properly KM aged ’05.