Menghai Dayi "Wei Zui Yan" 2007 Ripe

tried this tea thursday for the first time. got it in the mail wednesday opened to let it air out. reading up on it this is a super premium pu-erh cake. my merchant helped me out with this one by giving some information on it when i asked about the cost. i was assured of the quality. first aroma like a piece of bark in a woody forest. hit it with 195 water for about 15 seconds and tossed the water out. covered it with the top of the yixing to keep the heat and remaining tea in the pot. let this go for about 45 seconds.hit it with the water again and watched the leaves unfold. gave it 20 second and off we go. this tea brewed darn in the pot. the shu aroma was gone replaced by a hint of apple and cocoa. wow! what was this! took a sip and the fruit and floral hit me. very smooth no hints of bitterness. another one to move towards the top. i ended up with 4 steepings over 2 days with this tea. i will be going for number 5 today. i believe this tea will give about 6 for me , but only because i like a strong cup. now i am off to buy a 2007 version of this one to try and compare the two.

This is a lovely PuErh. It is very smooth, very dark, earthy, dry liquor with a very strong mouth watering feel, it has a nice thick body to it as well. I washed this one twice, both times the wash was dark in color, a bit dusty. As usual I went heavy handed on the tea lol;) The tea is almost black, there is no bitterness or astringency, it has a very classic PuErh profile, earthy, clay, forest and smooth thick, velvety body. I am on brew 4 after 2 washes and its still dark and rich. Its starting to open up into something more creamy, toasted, nutty. I think ill be going into tomorrow with this one:) it just keeps giving.

86/100

Price: 100g £7.66 ($11.98) from Dragon Tea House.

7g in Gaiwan.

Dry: Dark brown; medium compression, slightly fishy.
Wet: Creamy, slightly fishy, chocolatey, electrical smoke.

5s – Med brown. Good body, soft bitterness on the swallow, woody.
10s – Dark brown. Strong, complex body. The flavour profile is woody body with a creamy, slightly fishy, sweet finish that lingers. This is excellent tea in terms of body and finish.
The only negatives are that the wood flavours can carry a bit of funk. i.e. Sometimes they don’t seem to fit.

This tea brews well when brewed for longer to give a darker flavour.

This is an appealing Dayi Factory shu blend with a nice amount of age on it. Smooth taste with no perceivable trace of bitterness. Decent richness and flavor found in the taste. My only criticism is that the leaf becomes rather thin by the seventh infusion but then again “cooked” leaf never has as much to give as raw leaf, does it. I actually think I might try using a little extra leaf next time. Thick and tasty dark soup that brings great enjoyment. In my opinion, this is a Dayi shu worth owning.

Very smooth and rich. Another great Menghai ripe! Not very complex, but very satisfying.