2006 Menghai Dayeh

This is the only tea I have left un-reviewed from my Puerh Shop order at the beginning of the year. It was my original intention, to not touch this until it was at least 10 years old ( 7 more years), but Something came to my attention, I will have no benchmark as to how it has changed. The other two puerhs I have set aside for long term storage are the one of each of the two different Douji minibricks.

Puerh Shop no longer stocks this brick, which is a shame as I can not go back and look up some information. Such as its called Menghai Dayeh, but I do not know if it came from the Menghai Tea factory, and the fact that its spelled Dayeh an alternate version of Daye (big leaf), I am almost sure its not a Menghai Tea Factory production, but the question is I have no clue which of the many factories that have Menghai in their name it came from. My only clue is the little emblem embedded in the cake. So if you recognize that emblem do not hesitate to comment with the factory name.

Yes it is wrapped in ruled paper, as I was rather dissapointed that this brick along with several others arrived with the paper wrapping it in such bad shape (looked almost shredded in parts) That I had to devise a way to wrap them safely for transportation, and this solution seemed elegant, and possibly the least harmful. This actually seemed to be the brick which was the easiest to break apart, and with care I managed to get a decent amount of fuller pieces from the brick.


This tea is has taken on a dark brown appearance, with hints of green and yellow, but as I've only had this tea for roughly 6 months, I have no clue as to how green it was in 2006, or rather if it has changed much at all.

The leaves after the rinse smell green and grassy, with a hint of tobacco.

The soup is transparent and yellow, with a nice sweetness in the aroma, there is no sign of the tobacco I picked up on from the leaves, but it is really nice and grassy and sweet.

I'm honestly shocked by this tea. I have had many nasty puerh teas in the 3-7 year age range, perhaps this is still on the young side and its still got the vibrant pleasantness of youth. It is not over powering, It has a hint of orange that lingers through into the finish, other than that its a slightly bitter, mildly astringent green tea. I think I should run an aging test, with this and another puerh which is so powerful and astringent, your mouth feels raw after a few brews, that is if you can drink it for that long.

The second brew is more of a burnt yellow, the flavor profile is the same as the first infusion, while slightly more fruity.

While digging through the spent leaves, I notice that they are all rather small, and while I thought I got alot of whole leaves out of the brick, I can't find a whole leaf anywhere, but they are still decent sized pieces.

This tea while pleasant, is sort of like a one trick show, its got the hint of orange, then its sorta generic puerh young sheng, with nothing setting it apart. But I must go eat, before this destroys my stomach.