2005 Dayi 8542
5.3g/85ml gaiwan, Toronto filtered tap
This is a cake I bought a little more than 5 years ago. It was very harsh, still somewhat smoky, bitter, and with a pronounced astringency. After 5 years in 32C/63%RH conditions, in a zip-sealed mylar, this is the result.
- Sweet soft smell on wet leaves transfers to the taste. Medium thickness, sweet and resinous.
- Very strong sweetness, and very mild pleasant tongue-gripping astringency. Bold orange colour. Clean liquor. Dayi taste is also quite clear. Concentrated, sweet woody taste.
- Strong heating and alerting energy. Heating on face and lower back. Pretty strong astringency as well. Definitely starting to show the roughness. Astringency grows to a real puckering on the rear of the mouth.
- In the later steeps it starts to resemble its younger, rougher self. Sweetness decreases, and astringency grows. Also increasingly alerting.
Over the 5 years of storage, this tea has been partially transformed from a rough, somewhat smoky factory tea to one which is sweet, rich, and juicy. I say “partially” because after about three steeps, it starts to show its rough origin in the form of a strong leathery astringency. Hopefully it will continue in this direction. 4.7