2001 Dayi 7432, Hong Kong Storage
In the two months that I have owned this cake of Hong Kong Traditional storage 2001 Dayi 7432, it has rapidly risen to the very top of my collection in terms of the famed speed test. It is a very significant tea for me in my exploration of Puerh tea, as it is the first time that I truly appreciate, and even crave, a tea with traditional Hong Kong storage.
- Mineral, gravel, not beets, more earth and rocks. Dark orange-brown. Wet leaf has some sweetness. No resemblance to shou. Clear liquor.
- Very clear aroma of a ginseng shop, dry ginseng, dry ginseng being sliced by the machine. Good sweet aftertaste. Super dark. Uplift beginning. Wonderful
- Thick, very clear liquor. Ginseng. Aftertaste menthol, long mouthcoat is slightly juicy. Not at all geosmin. Thick mushroomy broth. Late aftertaste juiciness. Face heat. Gentle downward flow.
- Super dark, clear, thick with excellent sweetness now. Major heat, thick, sweet aftertaste with mineral in late aftertaste. Bitterness is clear in the arrival
- Lighter steep gives less bitterness. Much heat
- Excitement and heat energy. Inspiration, buzz without jitter.
- Tangier, more fruity in the later steeps. Mild tea drunkenness and chest heat. Nutty. Activity on the back is very enjoyable, full body energy, not very powerful but very enjoyable mild sensation. cooling throat long aftertaste.
I have tried several examples of Hong Kong traditional storage, and almost all of them had a beety geosmin aspect which I could never get used to. This tea seems to have no beet notes whatsoever. It does have a gravel taste, more mineral than earthy, which I do enjoy. The only other exception to the beet flavour in HK trad storage that I have tried is the Hong Kong Henry Conscientious Prescription or “Serious Formula”: instead of a beety note, my cake of the HK Henry has a strong napthalene mothball note, which I tolerate due to the tea’s other excellent aspects. In any case, this attribute of the 7432, together with its great mouthfeel, aftertaste, ginsengy taste, and inspiring and focusing mental effect with full-body frisson, is what made me immediately tong this 7432. My only criticism of the tea is that it doesn’t maintain its dark thick soupy power past the 7th steep. The late steeps are still interesting though, with some tanginess and fruitiness and still generating some heat in the chest. Material is old-fashioned Menghai material, leathery, large pieces, sturdy.
I have found that this tea does best with longer steeps in a big pot, something like 8g/400ml for a minute or two; longer steeps can get bitter but even these bitter steeps are such excellent ginsengy, mushroomy soup with sweet aftertaste and body effects, that I do not mind at all.