2015 Menghai Dayi 'Year of The Sheep' Raw

This is a strong and potent sheng. There were some slight notes of smoke at first, I’d say they dissipated after four steeps. athey were not strong. There was a mild astringency to the early steeps as well. While there was never a pronounced bitterness to this tea there were also no strong notes of apricots or stonefruits found in some sheng. Although some sweet notes did emerge around the ninth steep I don’t know what to call them. I think this is a cake designed for aging above all else. It is also expensive, Berylleb sells it for around $80 I think. While that is not too bad in price for premium sheng it is not cheap either. I could feel some qi from this tea but it was subdued at best. This was not a tea tremendously strong in cha qi. It did have a potent aftertaste to it. Strong and slightly bitter in nature.

I steeped this ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.2g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. The tea was not by any means weak at ten steepings. I suspect I would get at least five more out of this tea.