2006 EoT Da Xue Shan (pressed in 2013)

Current count of yet to be tasted and written about teas in cupboard:

Pu erh: 11

Oolong: 22

And a bunch of pu erh samples, including this one.

I got a sample of this from Essence of Tea when I ordered some yixing pots from them a while back.

The next step in my pu erh adventure is to develop a more discerning palate. Right now I honestly have no idea how to judge the quality of a pu erh, be it sheng or shu.

Thoughts?

In the packet, the sample smells like hay/grass/straw. All of the pasture elements are represented.

I rinsed and set this aside in the gaiwan for more than 15 minutes. Then I steeped at boiling for 5/5/7/7/10/10/20/30/40/60

The first steep was very, almost deceptively mild. I really couldn’t develop much of an impression of the tea after the first steep. It was sort of like my experience with some white teas. I can sense that the tea is there, but I can’t say that I really know what I’m tasting.

Subsequent steeps brought out the flavor, and a darker liquor that varied in shade from a lighter to a darker butter yellow with a tinge of brown at its darkest.

In aroma and flavor, this one spanned the gamut of things I’ve tasted in the other shengs I’ve tried recently. The second steep had a slight bitterness, but most of the steeps were the cocoa-toffee-coffee-white chocolate-butter melange I’ve come to quite enjoy. The fourth steep had some of the linen aspect that I noticed in my early forays, and was also, surprisingly, lightly floral.

The sixth steep made me notice a tingling on the tongue.

The seventh seemed sweeter than the others.

Can someone explain to me what qi is and how I know when I encounter it?

Warm and sweet with hints of dried fruits and relaxing Qi.
Images and more at https://puerh.blog/teanotes/2006-da-xue-shan-eot

Initial Notes
I initially thought I was going to be updating my first note, but not I noticed that I never uploaded that. I will put this current one and just edit it later with the original at the bottom for reference (when I find that note from over a year ago).

Dry – plummy and prune like with some mid-aged bittersweet wood and a musky sweetness (wee like). lol
Wet – Prunes for sure, dried fruit (aged), musky melon, bittersweet woody notes, some hints of dark richness.
Liquor – deep gold/light amber >> amber.

The initial steeps with woody-tangy fruit and the ‘prune’ sort of intensifies a bit with hints of medicinal notes, yet they are a lot cleaner than I would expect from the initial notes. There is some minor astringency, but the final sensation is oily and numbing.

The mid steeps are more woody and bittersweet in the front with a more definitive ‘prune’ and slightly more bitter to bittersweet woody note, yet it goes down smoothly. There is some slight astringency followed by a pleasant numbing sensation, but it becomes oily and thick in the finish.

The final steeps are smoother still, but they ‘prune’ taste is A LOT LESS fruity like and more like medicinal, think like Chinese aged fruits that have that mix of ‘fruit’ but then has a lingering bitterness than can be just as pleasant as unpleasant (to me it depends on the day and the tea, but I’ve had this before in other mid aged teas from EoT.

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.

I decided to sample this bing this morning. The compression is a little tighter than EoT’s 2012 Bangwei but still low enough to break off full intact pieces. I use about 5.2 grams to 100 mL of water. A subtle floral aroma with hints of citrus emanates from the beautiful wet leaves. The liquor is of a golden amber colour with little to no cloudiness… a very clean tea. Taste wise, this tea is very clean and pure with a soft sweetness (a sweetness than I generally associated with the Lincang area) that tickles the taste buds. I’d say the overall mouth-feel is well balanced. There is a nice hui gan and calming chaqi with this tea… pretty nice overall experience. 81/100