Pu-erhtea.com sells this very cheaply. So cheaply I was not sure it would turn out to be real. When I got it the first thing I did was scan the outer seal with the black light. It glowed green like a Dayi should. When I opened it I scanned the inner ticket. It glowed green like a Dayi should. The question remained did it taste like a Dayi should. We’ll I think it tastes real too. It was dark and rich in the early infusions. There was a lot of fermentation flavor to it. Prominent through the first five or so steeps. I did not notice any fishy taste but I am not too sensitive to that. I did notice some notes of chocolate in there. One could even argue it developed a fruity taste in later steeps but I’m not positive on that note. I do know that I enjoyed this tea. It tasted similar in profile to other Dayis I have drank in the past from other sources. The kicker to all of this is it was just around $13. Every indication is that this was real. They don’t usually fake the Dayi security features and they certainly don’t fake the Dayi flavor. It tasted completely real to me. I didn’t notice any qi per se but then again I usually don’t in ripe teas.
I steeped this tea twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 10.3g leaf and boiling water. 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. I could have gotten a couple more steeps out of the leaves but I was at my caffeine limit for the day.
Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Sweet
