Xia Guan has extensive experience blending teas over many years. Many know them for their Cranes, Iron Cakes, FTs and Tibet Mushrooms but this Blue Mark is not part of these more familiar series. Although we often think of younger Xia Guan products as carrying too much smoke in their aroma and taste, the mature teas have had time to work through this. Twelve years of aging has allowed this cake to mature into a softer, smoother tea with only the slightest hint of smoke in the scent of the dry leaf and not any to be found in the taste. Built from high grade maocha, there is more than enough in this tea to hold your interest. Good sized leaves with a deep brown color. A proper orange soup that is bright and clear. No sourness or bitterness. Rich, low fruitiness in the first infusion. Over successive infusions, the tea works through a heavy, robust sweetness. There is a nice coating in the back of the throat and a slight honey-like aftertaste. This tea is smooth yet it has depth and a good energy. I’ve spent the weekend with this one and I find it to be a comfortable and comforting tea to enjoy now or later.
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I have a 2003 dry stored Xiaguan iron and this one still has some of the smokiness, but not as bitter as I expected. However, I think the production overall is more of a one-time thing for my cake rather than a recipe. I noticed the Blue Mark on finepuer last week and the price is amazingly low.
I agree your assessment that most if not all the smokiness is gone by that age, Cwyn makes a point that the more drier stored versions hold on a bit to them, I feel like ripes loose it a bit faster over the other notes. W2T’s tea club Xiaguan Tuo also has some aroma of smoke but I have to admit the taste wasn’t smoky, rather it had progressed into other more woody-medicinal notes.
I have a 2003 dry stored Xiaguan iron and this one still has some of the smokiness, but not as bitter as I expected. However, I think the production overall is more of a one-time thing for my cake rather than a recipe. I noticed the Blue Mark on finepuer last week and the price is amazingly low.
I agree your assessment that most if not all the smokiness is gone by that age, Cwyn makes a point that the more drier stored versions hold on a bit to them, I feel like ripes loose it a bit faster over the other notes. W2T’s tea club Xiaguan Tuo also has some aroma of smoke but I have to admit the taste wasn’t smoky, rather it had progressed into other more woody-medicinal notes.