The Yunnan Sourcing description says that this was pressed from aged mao cha. It doesn’t say how old the mao cha was but judging from the color of the tea I would say six or seven year old mao cha. This does taste and look like a ten year old tea, at least. The initial notes were somewhat unpleasant, tobacco and leather, an aged taste as I like to call it. It took a while for this taste to fade. What was left behind, somewhere around steep eight I would say, was very smooth. It also was sweet after a fashion. Not the apricots of a young sheng but something more subtle. As to qi, I did get a little off this cake, relaxing but not in your face qi like a Yangqinghao tea. Don’t let the year of this cake fool you, it is aged more than other 2011 cakes.
I steeped 8.2g of leaf in boiling water in a 120ml gaiwan. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec , 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min. The leaves were not done at twelve. If I wanted to continue I’d get a few more steeps out of the leaves. For someone who wants to try a semi aged tea this is a good option as the price tag is not that high. I think it was $54. It was as aged as any tea I’ve had from 2005 at least.
Flavors: Leather, Smooth, Sweet, Tobacco
