Called the thick ripe cake. Well aged Dayi with hints of cherry on the first steep. Hints of oak at the back of the tongue. Second infusion cherry with lemon a taste almost like a well aged scotch.

Well this is one of those “special” pu erhs that lives up to its reputation. This tea brews dark as in a heavy fermented tea and exhibits the characteristics of a much older shou. It has a touch of dryness with a hint of woodiness that is followed by a sweet caramel molasses note. it has a hint of a peach taste at the very end that really works in this tea. I was really afraid to try this one and give notes on it as I was afraid it would be further than my simple notes to elaborate on it. All in all, well worth the cost. multiple flavor notes and very reminiscent of some small ultra high grade teas offered by some sellers we have in the US. If I hadn’t known it was a big factory production I would have argued adamantly that this was a small production. It will get a top rating as this one has all the things I like in a shou. I am really glad I bought 2 of these.

Trying this for the first time since I obtained it. I will probably never drink all of this in my lifetime since it is a 1000 gram brick meant to age. It is a very tightly compacted brick and pretty tough to break into. It has a “dryness” on the tongue and an almost apricot taste with a light coffee taste. difficult to accurately describe but pretty good overall. you all know I am kind of a "shou puerh’ head. It is nice. Not one of the best but a good affordable tea per cup considering the size of the brick. Apricot, light roast coffee and a hint of woodiness. I will retry this on a second steep tomorrow and may adjust the notes a little.

Got this as a sample and was thoroughly impressed. This is a very smooth sheng no harshness or bitterness. It does have the usual touch of camphor as many Dayi cakes do but it is not overpowering. It has good body and it turns very quickly to the honey taste of many fine shengs. This is a “hidden” gem from the Dayi Factory.

Wet lea still has the green scent with a little wisp of smoke in there. brew is a little darker than the 2008 cake I had a couple of days ago. This has evened out into a sweet brew without much bite or astringency to it. Honey and flowers in aroma and taste to this one. it is a little unassuming compared to the tea I had earlier in the day. Smooth and mellow would be the notes on this. Not much vibrancy or punch but an easy drinking brew.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Smoke

I gave this a 20 second wash and have let it sit for about 20 minutes to open up a bit.
First steep 10 seconds.
Color almost Lipton like dark.
Aroma, a little left of the fermented type.
Taste, some wood, a little raisin and almost prune or date in there. Nice and warming on a cold rainy night. I have been on a lot of sheng lately and this is a decent change of pace. probably not as deeply fermented as some to allow it to progress, but with the light fermentation it should progress nicely.

Flavors: Dates, Raisins, Wood

Got 10 grams off the cake for the Yixing. Gave a 10 second wash and went with it. Semi-dark brew as I think this is a lighter fermented shou. No off flavor in this as I am finding about 6 years and the shous are coming in like the shengs do. It had a nice raisin and semi-sweet flavor and just the slightest touch of bitter/astringency.
I only did 2 brews with this over 2 days but it has been pretty nice and you get a little earthy and woody on the second day.

I have actually enjoyed this one most of the day yesterday as the rain fell all day.
I got this one out grabbed 10 grams and headed for the Gaiwan. This has a kind of light aroma of hay in the dry leaf. I gave a quick rinse and started. The first 3 infusions done a 5 seconds each were a little light in color. The taste of these 3 had a subdued floral note with a touch of bitter. Steeps 4 through 9 is where this one really shined.
The color was much darker as I increased the steep times. The flavor came on with some fruity and floral that had a hit of bitter that faded to a sweetness at the back of the tongue.
I think I did about 15 steeps till this got too weak for me. I did save the brewed lea and put them with a fresh batch of hot water to season a new Yixing I recently purchased. Hopefully that will add a bit to the pot.

I started this one out with about 12 grams gave a good rinse and let it sit for 30 mins before brewing to re-hydrate.
To be as young as this shou no off aromas or “metallic” as some have being this young. Did a 8 second or so brew on this one. I poked around the leaf in the pot and there seems to be a fair amount of green leaf in this. Lightly fermented for sure. light on the palate, hints of oak, dates, raisins and a slight caramel to this one. Very reminiscent of another great shou from a local seller. Nice and velvety. Easy drinking and being enjoyed. Full 10 oz brew with the pot. I should gongfu this at a later date.

Flavors: Caramel, Dates, Oak, Raisins

I got out a big chunk, about 15 grams or so as I plan to brew this heavy and for a few days.
I gave a 10 second wash and then a 5 second one and let it set a good hour.
This one has the dark chocolate notes as well as some light fruity notes. Some bitterness but it is a bit early for that to fully come out if that happens.
This one coats the mouth well. The back of the tongue gives a bit of drying a little salty light taste note.
Overall nice not too complex but good with the tastes that come through.

Flavors: Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate, Fruity, Salt

Double wrapper as stated in the vendor description, phase one pass.
Got 10 grams , easy gaiwan brewing for this one.
Leaf looks a bit “chopped” not the full leaf teas that I have drank lately.
Gave a quick rinse to wake things up. Quick steeps of about 5 seconds each. Poured into my 10 oz. mug. Nice color to be as young as it is.
Still a bit strong, a fair bit of smoke in it. Nice hit of tobacco and camphor. Gives a bit of a tongue buzz to it.
Still “burly” and young but quite a bit more stout and powerful than most other Dayi products of this age . Not for the faint of heart but for those punch me in the chops type of tea. Some light fruit notes and a touch of an in between bitter to sweet note.

I got 10 grams out and gave a quick rinse to wake it up. Brewed in the easy gaiwan, the color looks a bit darker than the first time. The color really came after the second steep. The bitterness in this is pretty strong. It kind of overwhelms the palate a bit and goes a bit to the slightly sweet after some time. This one is still growing and needs more time to mellow out a bit.
A re-taste in a year hopefully will show a bit more progress.

I just updated this one after some research. It has older tea leaf in this cake. Stored as MaoCha and then they were pressed into cakes.

I pulled 9 grams off the cake to start with and gave a 5 second rinse. There is color in the rinse that would support the older material.
I started steeping at 5 second increments. The color on th e brews is a nice golden. The aroma has the camphor humid type note to it. This is confirmed upon drinking the tea. You can taste the humidity and the camphor notes along with some mineral in there. The leaf was pretty tightly pressed and there is some bitterness in there as well. This thing is very similar in profile to EoT’s Baotang. It has good storage without being too wet. It gives some tongue tingle and it exudes mintiness breathing it in and out for a minute or so. This thing feels almost like a supercharged ‘7542’ hits all the good notes for me.
This was loads better than the Menghai ’Old Tree Round" I had a while back. Maybe Menghai is something that can be drank without a 5 year or so aging process. I have a couple of more in this same style production to try as well from Menghai.

Very nice with some dried fruit in the rinse along with some floral. Got some bite on the back end. probably due to the bigger leaf or some BuLang mixed in there. Sweeter as the cup cools a bit. I seem to prefer these and 7532’s over the 7542’s. Maybe these aren’t as hyped and stay more affordable longer.

There are hints of the strorage in the first cup. Very small touch of bitter hardly there. A little drying that goes fairly to sweet quickly. Second cup brings more of the bitter note that rounds the corner with some camphor and mintiness hiding in there as well.
I don’t get the thickness as I do with some teas but this coats the mouth and feels a bit slippery for a few seconds on the tongue. Some mintiness but the Camphor on this is really nice. Good to find a tea that has some storage that doesn’t wash it out completely. I am probably getting the bitter as a harder hit since I was brewing the scraps of a few cakes up. Def a good one if you want to explore puerh a bit more.