Mei Gui Da Yi — “rose TAE” — is a legend since 1996, the first Menghai Tea Factory cake to carry the Dayi trademark, named for its rose-colored wrapper. This is the 2026 first batch sheng.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2026 · Sheng (raw) puerh · 357g cake · Menghai Tea Factory · 1st batch
- Compression & dry leaf: The tea comes as a 357g cake. In the dry leaf you can see well-formed threads and visible buds.
- Liquor: It brews a bright, transparent, golden to yellow liquor, with a thick look.
- Taste: It opens mellow and soft, with only a light bitterness, balanced by a natural sweetness. Once the leaf opens up, expect honey and orchid over a smoky background in a sweet and balanced cup.
- Mouthfeel & body: Expect a thick, full-bodied, smooth mouthfeel.
- Aftertaste: After each sip there is a strong hui gan and a long finish.
- Best for: improving your tea experience, especially if you already know a few sheng teas and want to taste more closely.
Tasting Notes
DaYi’s official tasting notes, infusion by infusion:
- 1st steep: Bright yellow liquor; full honey-orchid aroma with deep, reserved smokiness; thick and mellow; initial hui gan (returning sweetness) and a slight cooling sensation.
- 2nd–3rd steeps: Golden, oily liquor; honey-orchid aroma rising with the smoke; strong and full-bodied; slight bitterness melts away; pronounced, lasting hui gan and cooling on the tip of the tongue.
- 4th–5th steeps: Bright golden, gelatinous texture; rich, elevated honey-orchid aroma; intensely mellow and smooth; powerful hui gan and mouth-filling fragrance; smoky coolness slides down the throat, sweet rhyme gathering.
- 6th steep: Golden and translucent; elegant honey-sweet aroma, smokiness softened; mellow, smooth and full; balanced smoke and sweetness; lasting hui gan, clear throat rhyme.
- 7th–8th steeps (extended): Bright yellow; pure, enduring honey-sweetness with elegant smokiness; mellow, sweet broth; continuous hui gan, endless throat rhyme.
- 9th–10th steeps (extended): Highly translucent bright yellow; delicate honey-sweetness; clear, sweet, mellow broth; long, lingering aftertaste.
Brewing Guide
- Water: bring it to a full boil — 100°C (212°F).
- Steps:
- Use about 5g of tea per 100ml of water.
- Rinse the leaves once with boiling water, about 5 seconds, then pour it away. Cover and let the leaves rest for around 10 minutes.
- Steep 10–15 seconds for the first infusions, adding roughly 5 seconds each round.
- Decant into a sharing pitcher.
- Serve. Sheng puerh stands up well to many resteeps.
- These are starting points, not fixed rules. Play with high or low pours, fast or slow streams, and adjust across seasons until you find your method. Getting the best out of the same tea in any year, season, weather or place takes practice — and that skill is the real goal.
Storage
Store the cake somewhere ventilated, cool and dry, out of direct sunlight and away from strong smells such as kitchen spices or smoke. For aging over years, paper or clay containers allow better airflow than sealed plastic.
A Note on Appearance
You won't find these on every cake — they tend to turn up more often in teas that have been stored longer.
- 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 sometimes appear; they come from the tea's natural oils and are not a defect.
- Torn wrapper: the cotton paper may pick up small tears or holes during storage and handling. The tea inside is fine.
