2009 Yong De Da Xue Shan Wild Arbor Raw

This sheng puer was the first tea to give me the sensation of a ‘wow’-effect. There is so much to this tea, lots of different facettes while giving varying positive results when experimenting with the brewing.

When this tea was officially sold out I could get one of the last cakes from finepuer through private contact and I am very happy to this day for spending the money on this very familiar tea.

I would give this tea a score of 90-95, but since I have a very personal connection to this tea, I rate it the full 100 points.

I decided to buy a cake of this based on the positive reviews by DigniTea and TeaDb. I don’t regret it, but some of you might since I got one of the last cakes, Finepuer is now sold out of it. It is a beauty. Nice golden color, very hearty and thick, very little bitterness. Floral and sweet, bit not overly so. I think this will continue to get better with age, I am glad I have one for the collection.

This tea has received lots of attention, and rightfully so. It’s probably the most interesting teas I’ve purchased so far. I imagine this is what semi-aged raw pu’er tasted like before the advent over picking and of heavy fertilizers. The leaves are intact, have a dried fruit scent and when brewed release a pungent sugar cane/honeyed/high floral fragrance.

The first few steeps are bring up well-ripened black plums, pungent floral sweetness, brown sugar, minerals, sweet hay, and prominent menthol. The cooling effects are quite pronounced and very pleasant in the mouth. My friend who never had pu’er tried this with me. She and I both felt an uplifting energy spread from our mouth, inducing a very relaxed feeling (tea drunkenness). I used about 5.5 g for 100 ml of water—the tea leaves still release sweet fruity notes and a very long aftertaste accompanied by that pleasant cooling sensation in the mouth.

I’ve had this for about 1 year and there seem be increased fruit notes. I brewed this using a gaiwan, yixing, and nixing teapot and the aftertaste seems more enhanced with the nixing, whereas the yixing brings out more of the high-floral aromas. Considering the strength, unique character, and longevity of this tea, claims of wild tea trees origins don’t seem too far fetched.

DaXueShan (DXS) tea is a favorite of some and I include myself in this group. This one is particularly good. Most of the DXS teas we hear of are from the Mengku side of the mountain. This particular cake is from the Yong De side.
Made of decent material (reported to be gushu), now with six years of proper aging. Many intact whole leaves used to make the cake. Deep golden, clear soup. Sweet yet complex taste (mix of stonefruit, wood and leather) giving it a pleasant thick body. Active mouthfeel providing a nice feeling in both the mouth and throat. Many might detect a small amount of bitterness but I think it quickly becomes sweetness and then a nice cooling effect emerges. Solid depth and good Qi found in this sheng.
I have picked up several aged cakes from FinePuer and I have been very happy with each one. However, I must say that this is definitely one of my favorites due to the pure enjoyment of drinking a cup and the surprising thing is that it is the youngest of all my FinePuer purchases. I like this one a lot and I highly recommend it to those looking for fine puer. If you have not done so already, check out James’ comments on TeaDB.
http://teadb.org/2009-yongde-daxueshan/