He Yun Tian Xia — “universal harmony” — is DaYi's 2024 harmony cake: premium ancient-tree leaf, the DaYi tea-making craft at work. This is the first batch.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2024 · Sheng (raw) puerh · 357g cake · ancient-tree leaf · Menghai Tea Factory · 1st batch
- Compression & dry leaf: It is pressed into a 357g cake. The dry leaf shows visible buds.
- Liquor: The infusion pours bright and yellow.
- Taste: The first steeps are mellow and soft, with a strong bitterness. Through the middle infusions, smoky notes with a touch of honey and plum come forward over a sweet and balanced base. There is more to notice as you keep brewing.
- Mouthfeel & body: The texture is thick, full-bodied and soft.
- Aftertaste: The aftertaste brings plenty of salivation and a lingering sweetness.
- Best for: improving your tea experience. Brew it attentively and follow how it changes; a natural step up for a newcomer who wants to go further.
Tasting Notes
DaYi’s official tasting notes, infusion by infusion:
- 1st infusion: Bright yellow liquor; highly concentrated, intense smoky aroma; prominent smoky-sweet taste spreading in the mouth; smoky scent lingers at the bottom of the cup.
- 2nd–4th infusions: Bright deep yellow; strong, stimulating smoky aroma with a hint of sweet honey; highly stimulating with pronounced smoky character and thick bitterness; rapid, abundant aftertaste.
- 5th–7th infusions: Bright yellow; rich smoky aroma with a sweet undertone; full and layered, smoky-bitter; quick, lasting aftertaste with prolonged sweetness and salivation; persistent throat feel.
- 8th–10th infusions: Bright yellow; lasting smoky aroma with long sweet fragrance; mellow and balanced, smoke and sweet intertwined; long, endless aftertaste.
Brewing Guide
- Water: fully boiling, 100°C (212°F).
- Steps:
- Add tea (about 5g per 100ml).
- Rinse once: cover the leaves with boiling water for about 5 seconds, then discard. Put the lid on and let the leaves rest for about 10 minutes to open up.
- Steep for 10–15 seconds for the first rounds, adding about 5 seconds each round.
- Pour into a sharing pitcher.
- Serve. Sheng puerh resteeps well for many rounds.
- Treat these as starting points rather than fixed rules. Try high or low pours, fast or slow, and brew in different seasons to find the method that suits you. Brewing the same tea well in any year, season, weather or place takes practice, and that skill is the real goal.
Storage
Keep the cake ventilated, cool and dry, away from sunlight and strong odors (kitchen spices, smoke). For long-term aging, paper or clay containers breathe better than sealed plastic.
A Note on Appearance
Not every cake shows these, but they can occur, especially in teas with more years of storage.
- Bamboo powder (zhu fen): a natural sign of traditional bamboo-husk packing. In Guangdong's warm, humid climate, tiny bamboo insects can make their home in the husk, nibbling the husk and cotton paper wrapper while leaving the tea itself untouched. What they leave behind is a fine powder, seen only on certain teas and more often on aged ones. It is harmless to hygiene; a few strokes with a clean toothbrush or soft brush before brewing is all it takes.
- Tea oil spots: yellowish spots may appear and can come from natural tea oils. They are not a flaw.
- Torn wrapper: small tears or holes in the cotton paper may happen during storage and handling. The tea inside is unaffected.
