2008 Menghai Dayi "7632"

Bought this a while back to accompany the 2012 version of the same cake. In terms of leaf grade this one is only second currently to a Menghai 0712. I have been on this one for two evenings now and it still surprises me. At first I though it to be a little weak on the first infusion I did and was thinking maybe I shouldn’t have gotten this one. I let the tea sit in the yixing with the bit of steam while I put the first cup down. I was hesitant about how this was going to turn out. The second steep really woke it up meaning I should have rinsed it twice. The brew is much darker than the first infusion and I think I got it right this time. It came across as a bit of leather with a hit of fruit with an almost pucker like eating a half ripe persimmon. This tea continues to get darker on the second day and I even pulled some out to brew in the gaiwan. This one puts a small amount of the dry on the sides of the tongue but continues to be a pretty good one. I have had tea that i would be embarrassed to put a note up as they where ones I could not stomach and some that My simple words could not do justice. This tea is sweet , juicy , tart and a bit drying all rolled into one. It has been a very pleasant one to drink and will fall into the same category as a “high mountain charm” or a “wei zui yan” shou. It is warming and smooth to drink and I think this will go to the third day with good strength in the cup. I will put it slightly higher than the “adorned in red” cake but the two are nice and comparably have good aspects that I would choose in a shou cha. I did short steeps with water just off the boil and I will increase the steeps for the later rounds.

I am sampling this from the Beginner Puerh TTB.

I don’t get much smell from the dry leaf but after a flash rinse, I am getting a smokey and earthy scent from the wet leaves.

1st steep, 10 seconds. Liquor is a pale yellow, almost peach color. Liquor scent has a slight earthy, slightly… fruity(?) scent to it. I understand that the puerh nugget hasn’t quite broken up yet but the liquor flavor is very light, airy, and smooth. Little earthy flavor. A slight sweet coating on the back of the throat.

2nd steep, 15 seconds. Liquor is slightly darker now. The flavor is much of the same. I suspect the tea nugget will break up upon the 3rd steep, judging by its integrity at this point. Perhaps that will see an increase in flavor and color. Not that I’m complaining. I enjoy the mellow sweetness so far.

3rd steep, 15 seconds. While the tea didn’t break up on this steep, I am starting to see more darkness being released into the water. It is looking now like a cinnamon reddish-brown. There is slightly more earthy/moss flavor here.

Took a nice little 3 hour break here to take the kids to a movie. But now, I’m back on the horse.

4th steep, 20 seconds. Now we are getting into some darkness. I might confuse the liquid for a lighter roasted coffee at this point, in terms of color. Flavorwise, it is still fairly light handed with the earthy tones, smooth, and sweet coating on the back of the throat. Or maybe that is the leftover pop and popcorn being washed down. I must say though, this shu is surprising me.

5th steep, 25 seconds. Deep and dark ruby red. Sweet earthy tones. Smooth as ever. Tea nugget is still mostly in tact. Uh-oh, I might be in this one for the long haul! Fine by me.

1,2, skip a few, 99, 100.

I’m not quite sure how many steeps I ended up getting from this serving since I ended up stretching it throughout the day and kept coming back to it. But, I will say that overall this is a very smooth and long lasting shu that I am very happy I took a sample of.

A treat from boychik

oh so smooth.

Some infusions seemed really sweet. Some seemed a little earthy. Some seemed both.

Rich and tasty.

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two days of this tea – im in a Puerh heaven. it is very very good puerh, complex, first 5 steeps maybe so unlike each other.
5g 100ml gaiwan 212F
rinse pause 5/5/10/10/15/15/20/30/ sec etc
Wet leaves have strong smell of dried apricots
1st steep produced brownish reddish clear tea. its sweet but had some sourdough notes at the very end of the sip
2nd steep clean and sweet. as cooled introduced some cream
3rd steep it smelled and tasted of strong cream of wheat.
here i stopped taking notes, it was a midnight. some steeps were mellow, then introduced more flavors. i wasnt paying attention. i just enjoyed.
i have to mention i haven’t noticed any earthiness, leather, cedar or barn smell. this tea is very clean.
I think I should stop rating Puerh. its so hard to put a number for me