This 357g raw cake is not packaged in the Yunnan Sourcing wrapper, but was leaf sourced by YS in Jingu and pressed by the company on the wrapper. Scott’s name for the tea is stamped on the front in light red. The tea smells wonderful in the paper and definitely makes me want to drink it.
The cake is of medium compression with mostly whole immature leaves mixed with a good bit of bud and some stem.In the picture below you can see in the bottom left where I have already knocked some leaves off for this steeping. They come off quite easily and do not require any mangling of the cake.
The wash, very quick, brings out a rich and spicy chocolatey aroma that is a good indicator that I will enjoy this tea. Steep number one is already rich and full-bodied with just the right amount of dryness to not offend, but accentuate the aroma. I am a little surprised at the rich amber color of the liquor for such a young cake. I think that Scott might have some sort of method to his pressing that gives the leaf a bit of a push in the right direction.
Steep two brings out an even richer aroma with the spiciness sensed earlier also appearing on the palate. The color has darkened another shade, but the dryness remains where it is: just on the other side of too much. Some of the YS cakes focus a bit too much on the ethereal fragrances for my taste, but this is one of the cakes that represents a balance between the fragrance and the robust, ageable flavor, at least for me.
The aroma starts to fade over the next 3 steeps, but the color and flavor continue on until about the 9th or tenth steep. I look forward to aging with this cake and attending to its development.
Some of the stems are a bit chewy for a March plucking, but the leaves are as tender as can be. I gobbled down a few before cleaning up. I recommend this cake for aging; I will probably try to polish it all off before it is around 25yo or so.
