Qi Zi Zhi Ge — “the song of the seven sons.” The 2024 cake — young and auspicious.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2024 · Ripe (shou/shu) puerh · 357g cake · DaYi (Menghai Tea Factory) · 1st batch
- Compression & dry leaf: It is pressed into a 357g cake. Breaking it open reveals visible buds and an even, dark fermentation.
- Liquor: The liquor is reddish brown or deep red, clear and bright, with a thick look.
- Taste: From the first steep the taste is mellow and fresh. The middle steeps bring out hints of honey, plum and osmanthus, with a sweet taste. The flavor shifts a little from steep to steep.
- Mouthfeel & body: The texture is thick, smooth and rounded.
- Aftertaste: Look for a lingering sweetness after each cup.
- Best for: everyday drinking. It is forgiving to brew, so newcomers can start here.
Tasting Notes
- 1st Infusion: Bright red liquor with pronounced sugar sweetness and a sweet, mellow taste.
- 2nd-4th Infusions: The liquor deepens to a rich, glossy red. Honey sweetness becomes abundant, layered with the unique osmanthus aroma. The taste is mellow, smooth, and sweet, transitioning from morning dew freshness to evening drum depth.
- 5th-7th Infusions: A vibrant, clear red liquor. The honeyed sweetness is intense and enduring, clinging delightfully to the cup. The taste is smooth and mellow, gracefully coating the throat.
- 8th-9th Infusions: Bright red liquor with a clear sugar sweetness and a fragrant, mellow taste, leaving an elegant aftertaste.
- 10th Infusion: The liquor remains a beautiful red, with persistent sweetness and an unending, lingering finish.
Brewing Guide
- Water: fully boiling, 100°C (212°F).
- Steps:
- Add tea (about 5g per 100ml).
- Rinse twice: 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. Ripe 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.
