A Tea Addict's Journal

Davelcorp Yiwu

March 22, 2008 · 5 Comments

Two years ago I bought this cake off Davelcorp when he had a sale of excess goods

I think I got it for some rather low amount, certainly low by today’s standards. Ever since getting it, it’s been sitting in one closet or box or another, and I somehow never found time to drink it. Then I went to Beijing, so of course I didn’t get a chance to drink it, until now.

The cake looks all right, rather loose, not the most handsome out there

I didn’t expect much when I bought it, but I’m about to find out.

The tea turned out to be extremely pleasant. Sweet, some bitterness that fades very rapidly into a huigan, good, strong minty taste in the throat, qi, hints of aging, taste of Yiwu somewhere in the middle…. it’s got everything. It’s not the best, mind you, but it’s certainly not bad. I’ve had many a “premium” tea from the past two years that are not half as good. Of course, this cake has had some aging, but I somehow doubt some of these “premium” cakes will do as well in 5 years’ time.

And for the price I paid, it’s worth every penny. Davelcorp, regretting your sale yet? 🙂

The leaves are stemmy

I wondered if this might be a fall tea, but it doesn’t really matter much. The tea claims to be wild arbor tree, and there are definitely signs of that in the cup (and consequently, in the mouth). In fact, this is the kind of young puerh that I like — has strength, but not the nasty, knock you out kind of strength. Instead, it’s like a firm grip of a hand, vigorously shaking yours, making its presence known. Firm handshakes are always good, fists are not.

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5 responses so far ↓

  • Anonymous // March 22, 2008 at 2:43 am | Reply

    Imperial Tea Court. And I agree – glad to see you like this tea: I bought a lot of it when I first experienced it (probably like Davelcorp) and then wondered if I’d regret it, but have always found it a solid Yiwu drinking experience.

  • MarshalN // March 22, 2008 at 7:31 am | Reply

    Yeah, it’s pretty solid. Not spectacular, perhaps, but solid is pretty good these days.

  • Anonymous // March 23, 2008 at 10:53 pm | Reply

    Can you elaborate more on the “…nasty, knock you out kind of strength” in reference to young pu-erh?

    I ask because, the last few times I’ve drank puerh (young and raw) I’ve just passed out. Its weird. I drank the pu-erh, and then completely fell asleep.

    Don’t really know whats going on here…this has never happened before (except recently). I have been using a lot more leaf than usual; however, the taste has been excellent– no astringency or anything like that.

  • davelcorp // March 23, 2008 at 11:59 pm | Reply

    MarshalN — I’m glad you enjoyed it. Ironically, I revisited this bing earlier this week, and was pleasantly surprised by the changes it had undergone. I remember when this was a brash smoky and bitter young pup, and now it is showing the first signs of maturity. As a matter of fact, this is one of the first shengs I ever tasted, back when I was making the plunge into puer-geekdom.

    Maybe you can answer a few questions I have about this (since the employees at ITC can’t/won’t.
    1) What is the producing factory? I see that it is a CNNP, but does the label mention which factory made it?
    2) What year is it from? The ITC website mentions 2003, but the neifei has a stamp on it that looks like 2001. What is your take?

    And do I regret selling this to you? No. I have 1.5 of these left, and if you remember, I traded with you for one of these:
    http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN/536747364/item.html

    I think that was a fair trade.

    -D

  • lochantea // March 24, 2008 at 8:53 am | Reply

    I am very curious to know the script written as a circle around the chinese ideograph in the center of this pu’erh cake wrapping at the top of this post.

    To me it reminds of Oriya or Telgu scripts of India – rather central to south India.

    What is the connection of this being here?

    Rajiv Lochan

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