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This tea certainly is easy to drink. I am fond of Yiwu teas since they tend to be mellow and smooth. This 1998 is the oldest Yiwu leaf I’ve had. Just as expected mellow and smooth with a prominent brown sugar sweetness. The nice full leaves produce a dark bronze soup which is very clear. A silk-like body is found in the sip. Nice aftertaste which lingers. I was left with a little mouth and throat dryness but this often happens when I drink tea. More important to note, the tea left me quite relaxed after the session. Great endurance yielding many, many flavorful resteeps – I steeped the same leaves eight times and I’m still doing 5 second steeps. Overall sweet, dense, and pleasant. The quality of these aged Yiwu leaves is something to admire – this is one amazing tea!

This is a tasty little shou – quite balanced and smooth with no astringency or fermentation smells or tastes. Typical of most Dayi products, it is composed of pieces and stems but there are several goldens to be found reflective of the raw material’s quality. Dark red tea soup. Flavor profile offers touches of honey, malt, chocolate and nuts blended together. The rich taste of the tea spreads throughout the mouth and leaves a nice aftertaste. Very good choice for an everyday ripe tea.

This is thought of as a high-level ripe product from Dayi but I am underwhelmed by this particular harvest. It is a smooth drinking shou but I find the flavor profile quite boring. I do not see how it could mature into more flavor after more aging so I am unable to recommend it. Cakes using this formula from other years are much better.

This is a very nice straightforward tea – clean, creamy and sweet. Moderate compression; very attractive dry leaves which offer light floral notes to please the nose. The tea soup is a lovely clear copper color (dark copper). This is a smooth tea with very little if any bitterness found underneath the dominant theme of sweetness. Little complexity, just an enjoyable sip with pleasant mouthfeel and aftertaste. For me the tea’s effect was quite calming and relaxing, in fact, it made me feel rather tired. Puerh from Jingmai has a reputation for being softer and lighter than Puerh from other tea growing regions and this tea lives up to that reputation.

Pressed in 2012, the mix of large and small leaves is 2007 maocha from 400-500 year old trees. There are light scents of leather and smoke coming from the dry leaf. This is a soft and gentle tea, not at all aggressive. Very friendly and pleasing to the taste buds. It started sweet with a mineral (almost metallic) impression, too, but the tea’s fruity sweetness easily dominates the taste. There is also a light hint of smoke with a little something else as well – citrus I think. Pleasant mouthfeel and an equally appealing aftertaste – neither lasts very long. This is not a “powerhouse” tea but it did provide a clear and refreshing feeling as I drank the cups. At the end of the session, I was both relaxed and invigorated. Fairly priced ($72/400g cake) for this 2007 material pressed in 2012.

A very decent Menghai Dayi ripe blend. Seemingly typical characteristics of the material used in mainstream Dayi cakes – solid compression; mix of whole leaves, pieces and stems; limited scent in dry leaves. Reported to be grade 3 leaf quality which seems to result in a more interesting and exciting flavor profile. The tea soup for this one is a reasonably clean deep burgundy color. Interesting mix of flavors during different stages of the tea session – camphor, leather, earth, cedar, biscuits, bread, citrus, cinnamon, pepper, cream with a gentle sweetness throughout. No fermentation flavors detected. Solid durability, therefore, good for many resteeps. This is a solid shou for everyday drinking!

Needed a shou today and I decided to pick this one. Very glad I did for it really hit the spot in my effort to balance out all the sheng I’ve been drinking over the past ten days. This one is so very easy to drink. Just enough complexity and a nice balance of sweetness with light bitterness. Flavor profile is a bit of everything – creamy, fruity, earthy, woodsy, tobacco – but not one of these dominates or overpowers. No fermentation found. Reasonable durability to my liking – I believe I had 10 decent steepings. A big recommendation from me!

I am quite fond of material from Da Xue Shan (DXS). After several years of careful maturation, this material from ancient trees has developed into a fine tea. (These Essence of Teas cakes are pressed using lightly aged maocha.)
Lightly compressed so that it is very easy to pick off beautiful whole leaves. Clear crisp tea liquor. Nice texture and body. Taste complexity; both fruit (dried dark fruits) and appealing sweetness found in the sip. Good mouthfeel (active and buzzing) that lasts. A welcome positive qi arrives quickly with energy that begins in the mouth and quickly spreads throughout the body.
Very good for about seven brews and then it goes rather flat. I wonder if that is becaused aged maocha was used to form the cakes? I am very glad to have a 20g sample to enjoy but given the combination of price and limited durability, I am unable to justify the purchase of a cake at this time.

Enjoying my second MengSong sheng in the past week. Smooth and mellow with a gentle fruity sweetness. I’m a fan. Although very enjoyable right now, for me I think this one will benefit from a few years of maturity to reach its true potential. Comparing the 2005 6FTM Mengsong 357g vs. the 2011 Dayi MengSong, I would say they definitely share similar characteristics (as one would expect with material from the same area). Similar in cost when price is calculated per gram so either tea would be a worthwhile purchase. My personal preference is the 2005 6FTM cake since I found a more complex flavor profile and more durability. So my plan is to drink the 2005 now and go back to the 2011 Dayi in two to three years when it should yield a very exciting cup.

Pretty, long leaves form the cake which has an inviting fruity scent. Limited number of stems and pieces. Two 5 second rinses and left the wet leaves to rest before steeping the first cup. Orange color in the tea soup. The sip yields an appealing fruity sweet flavor and suggests a thick and substantial body. In later cups there is a tiny bit of bitterness and both tobacco and woody flavors hit to offer a little balance and complexity. Good throat-feel where the sweetness continues to build. This is a straightforward tea made from decent leaves from one clearly identified growing area and I must say that I quite enjoyed my sessions yesterday and today. When I last checked, you could still find it at Angelina’s Teas for $45.