I am quite fond of material from Da Xue Shan (DXS). After several years of careful maturation, this material from ancient trees has developed into a fine tea. (These Essence of Teas cakes are pressed using lightly aged maocha.)
Lightly compressed so that it is very easy to pick off beautiful whole leaves. Clear crisp tea liquor. Nice texture and body. Taste complexity; both fruit (dried dark fruits) and appealing sweetness found in the sip. Good mouthfeel (active and buzzing) that lasts. A welcome positive qi arrives quickly with energy that begins in the mouth and quickly spreads throughout the body.
Very good for about seven brews and then it goes rather flat. I wonder if that is becaused aged maocha was used to form the cakes? I am very glad to have a 20g sample to enjoy but given the combination of price and limited durability, I am unable to justify the purchase of a cake at this time.
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I like this one a lot. (I’ve yet to review it here though). To me it lasted a bit longer that than 7, maybe 9 good steeps? then weak, but I can definitely see using aged maocha being an issue, since it basically requires re-steaming it which is basically brewing it a bit and it is bound to loose some flavor/stamina on the process.
JC, I hear you. We both know that lots of different parameters and preferences determine satisfaction with a cup and 7 is not that far from 9 good steeps. Who knows, my next round with a new batch of the DXS may yield 9 or more for me as well. Bottom line, this is a nice tea. If the price was a little lower I would definitely buy the whole cake or if I had not purchased so many very fine teas from good sellers, I would probably purchase it. Just not for me right now. Now I’m trying to decide which EoT to try next.
Yeah and that exchange also hurts the pocket! lol I’m not sure what you had but I would recommend the 2014 Long Lan Xu, 2009 WuLiang Wild Puerh and 2007 ChangYuHao GuShu Puerh (Ripe).
Yes, the exchange rate is tough. I picked up these before the 2014s appeared and I was not interested in the ripes but I do have the Wuliang. I also have the two QiShengGus, a few of Mr. Feng’s and 3-4 others.
I like this one a lot. (I’ve yet to review it here though). To me it lasted a bit longer that than 7, maybe 9 good steeps? then weak, but I can definitely see using aged maocha being an issue, since it basically requires re-steaming it which is basically brewing it a bit and it is bound to loose some flavor/stamina on the process.
JC, I hear you. We both know that lots of different parameters and preferences determine satisfaction with a cup and 7 is not that far from 9 good steeps. Who knows, my next round with a new batch of the DXS may yield 9 or more for me as well. Bottom line, this is a nice tea. If the price was a little lower I would definitely buy the whole cake or if I had not purchased so many very fine teas from good sellers, I would probably purchase it. Just not for me right now. Now I’m trying to decide which EoT to try next.
Yeah and that exchange also hurts the pocket! lol I’m not sure what you had but I would recommend the 2014 Long Lan Xu, 2009 WuLiang Wild Puerh and 2007 ChangYuHao GuShu Puerh (Ripe).
Yes, the exchange rate is tough. I picked up these before the 2014s appeared and I was not interested in the ripes but I do have the Wuliang. I also have the two QiShengGus, a few of Mr. Feng’s and 3-4 others.