Super Red Maeng Da
We end up typing a lot of long-form emails to our customers (likely thousands since we started our company in 2009!), and it occurred to us that we should have a Blog on the site to channel that energy! With each new harvest release (and also in-between), we'll create new Blog entries with our thoughts.
As time flies, it continually becomes more difficult to find new and unique harvests. Having stocked some of the highest quality material for many years, living up to that standard is not easy. We receive a lot of samples from various sources, and there's actually very little we would consider stocking. The industry also changes over time, and I've generally noticed that quality is overall not what it used to be. Or... at least the available harvests mostly seem bland, uninteresting, and too similar to another.
However, every now and then, we come across an exciting gem. Lately, we found one worthy of talking about in-depth: Super Red Maeng Da!
This one immediately landed on our list of all-time favorites. It has what we call a nicely centered "sweet spot", profile-wise. We are always open to profiles, whether they're narrow, balanced, or very wide. Super Red MD covers the whole range, so it has some complexity, but it is nicely balanced. Those who sampled it and returned feedback really loved it. Super Red MD is limited, and of course, once this harvest runs out, there may be another next-in-line, but it will not be the same profile. Every harvest, even ones from the same tree, will have a different profile for a variety of reasons (not just seasonal variables). It is the curing process, an often overlooked aspect, where a great deal of the character resides.
Super Red MD has a touch of boldness and a nice rounded palette. It also has a that special resiny-rich foundation we often talk about. If you've ever performed a water extraction on plain leaf and concentrate that into a solid, it yields a resin that's quite unique (there's nothing like it). Super Red MD has that concentrated, bittersweet character with a unique lingering that dominates in a good way. Some harvests lack this character completely, and it's actually a bit rare amongst all of the many harvests on the marketplace.