Yin Kong Que — “silver peacock” — is DaYi's elegant sheng: silver-haired leaf, a relatively loose pressing, and a subtle sugar-cane fragrance. The 2006 cake in the 250g size.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2006 · Sheng (raw) puerh · 250g cake · silver-haired leaf · Menghai Tea Factory
- Compression & dry leaf: This tea is sold as a 250g cake.
- Liquor: The liquor is typically amber to orange-amber for sheng of this age.
- Taste: The early infusions show only a light bitterness, balanced by a natural sweetness. Through the middle infusions, sugarcane comes forward over a fruity background, with a sweet and rich base. New details keep appearing in the later steeps.
- Mouthfeel & body: Expect a thick mouthfeel.
- Aftertaste: After each sip there is a returning sweetness (hui gan), plenty of salivation and a long finish.
- Best for: improving your tea experience — worth reaching for once you have moved past being a drinker new to puerh.
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.
- Small dark specks: tiny dark specks may appear on the wrapper or cake edges of naturally stored puerh. They are harmless and can be brushed off before brewing.
- 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.
