dayi Archives - Two Dog Tea Blog

2003 Purple Dayi

May 26, 2013May 26, 2013 TwoDog2 Leave a comment

Dayi Purple

This generous sample was sent over by Apache, and it spent a long time in my sample bin before making it to the gaiwan, and an even longer time in my draft posts before leaping on to the tea blog. Recently some people have been stirring the online marketing pot for a new production of purple Dayi, so what better time to review this old classic from 2003?

Purple Dayi Puer Tea — Dry Purple Dayi from 2003

Lately a lot of Dayi chit chat has been flung around on various forums where i lurk, most of which is speculating on the prices of Dayi for 2013. Hkteaforums, home to the most Dayi loving folk on our fine planet, has some particularly egregious Dayi butt licking. How many of these people are adbots is a mystery, but it seems that anyone who is excited about paying over $30 for 2013 7542 (China taobao price) must be on the payroll. With at least a few nifty plantation teas with 5 years of age abound for that price, I am hard pressed to think of reasons to buy 7542, which is just a plantation blend after all.

The 2003 hunk i have is full of buds, and tightly packed. The small pouch poofed a sweet soft smell upon opening. After a rinse there was trace of smoke, which dissipated after the first steep.

Purple Menghai Puer — Purple Dayi Soup Closeup

Sweetness was lingering throughout the session and most youthful abrasiveness had been smoothed out, with only a little tooth remaining.

Purple Dayi Puerh — Wet Puer leaves during the brewing process, with plenty of sunlight to wash out the photo

The purple dayi gave out around the 8th steep, which is to be expected from most plantation factory productions.

Dayi Big Leaf — A larger leaf amongst the choppy Puer

The Purple Dayi was a very enjoyable session and Apache footing the bill for the sample allowed me to distance myself from the cost of this very dear cake. My advice would be to shovel some coal in your time machine and travel back to a time when this cake was cheap, rather than buy it now. But, if you are going through that much trouble, you might consider warping back a few more years and buying old arbor Guafengzhai and Apple stock in the 90’s instead.

2009 Dayi Hongyun

February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 TwoDog2 2 Comments

After leaving the land of copious amount of biscuits and gravy, I realized I had left out a set of pics from a 2009 Dayi Hongyun session in the U.S. of A. Different people translate the name Chinese Hongyun into English in different ways. The hong [红] means red, pretty straightforward. The yun [韵] on the other hand is a bit trickier. Dictionaries list it as

A beautiful sound, appeal, vowel, rhyme, charm

Or the mighty Babelcarp tea dictionary says

literally Tea Rhyme: what might be called the personality of a tea abstracted from what the sensory organs take in

People toss this word around kind of like Qi [茶气], to the point where individual people have vastly different definitions of what exactly they are trying to communicate. I am not a linguist, so pick whichever translation you prefer and let’s be on our merry way.

Dayi Ripe Puer Tea — Dry ripe puer cake from Dayi

2009 Hongyun Dayi Puer — 2009 version, material from a bit earlier

The Dayi Hongyun is an inexpensive little disc, parceled out in 100g portions and boxed up as pictured above. Pretty convenient for taking on a short trip, if you are lacking ripe puer. The compression is tight and the leaves are all tiny, gongting [small, high grade of leaf] size, but not that high of a grade – just my opinion.

Clay teapot — A little clay pot (not my own)

There are several iterations of this cake, the first being a 2008 pressing. The horn of tea jutting out of the clay pot above is from 2009. I recently had some of the 2012, which seemed to be a little stronger because of the recent pressing, but that could fade with time. It is a stable blend, smooth and easy.

As far as Dayi shu is concerned, this is a safe bet of a tea. Not the most exciting or dynamic tea out there, but also far better than a lot of the non-Menghai big factory productions. It is creamy and leaves a smooth warmth in the throat that is very pleasant. If you wanted to introduce a new tea drinker to ripe puer with low risk of scaring them off, this would be a fine place to begin. Taobao prices vary, depending on year and vendor. 500g worth is about $20+ in the mainland.

Menghai Ripe Puer Tea — Smooth, dark brew

Speaking of things that are warm, creamy, and pleasant – I will sign off with some pictures of biscuits and gravy I enjoyed on my trip to the states.

Tea and Biscuits — From Sea to Shining Sea

American Diner Breakfast — Ever Increasing Adult Obesity

2012 Dayi Longyin – Menghai Dragonmark

February 2, 2013February 2, 2013 TwoDog2 7 Comments

Taetea Legend : Dragonmark Dayi Puer

For the longest time I thought the wrapper above read “Taste a legend”. Finally, I realized it said “Taetea Legend”, Taetea being the English name for Dayi. Legend is a word that shouldn’t be tossed around lightly, unless your tea is Michael Jordan good. If you are more of a Toni Kukoc player, that’s fine. Kukoc was a great player, but he’s not really a legend. Kukoc is a decent comparison for a basketball player skill versus Longyin tea goodness. Not good, not bad. A bit overhyped because he is on a good team. Croatian. 6ft 11 inches tall. Ok, not that last two. Whatever, enough half-baked basketball/tea analogies.

Dayi Longyin 2012 Puer Tea — The cake in all its glory

The Longyin [Dragon mark] cake is named as such because of the Chinese zodiac “year of the dragon”, which will quickly be passing us by into the year of the snake. Not to fear, Dayi does not waste time waiting for such trivial things such as the actual passing of the lunar year. The American equivalent must be Christmas trees in stores before Thanksgiving.

Menghai Dragonmark Taetea Puerh — Close up on some of the leaves

The pictures above show a mixed tippy cake with varying material and a bit of chop. Very menghai-y in fragrance.

So, when I purchased this cake I think it was 2X0 RMB, (can’t remember), it is currently 390 RMB, or thereabouts. The price rising in tandem with the Jin Dayi. This is a legendary price increase for a tea this young. Perhaps part of the rise in price is due to the good mojo of the Dragon year? I found the cake to be much less interesting than the Jin Dayi. My first sessions with the Longyin were particularly astringent, which is to be expected from a young tea. It was brash, coming out of the gate like a bull. Lots of kuwei [ bitterness ] and astringency, but with a lack of body to back them up. This is a common complaint I have about Dayi raw puer, the lack of body.

The current price of 390 RMB (caution: one more bad basketball analogy) is a Gilbert Arenas contract. You are paying well over $50 million for a player who is going to sit on the bench and cause trouble by bringing guns (allegedly) into the locker room. For the same price, you could hire Chris Paul, Lebron James, or Kevin Durant. So, why are you hiring Gilbert Arenas? You probably shouldn’t. Nor would I recommend buying the Dragonmark. This is just my humble opinion, however. I have seen much praise floating around the HK tea forums for this tea.

I will be interested to see how this cake ages and whether any of its brash characteristics fill out into more pleasant sensations. For now, it is going on the bench. Luckily teas, unlike basketball players, get better with age.

2003 Jin Dayi (Gold Dayi)

January 13, 2013January 13, 2013 TwoDog2 Leave a comment

2003 Jin Dayi

With the passing of the New Year (and my cold), my first post of 2013 will be from a session that happened several months ago, thanks to the generous Apache. A session with this cake is indeed towards the higher end of the generosity spectrum, as 2003 Jin Dayi [Gold] is over USD 300 per 357 gram cake, making it a rather dear session.

2003_Dayi_Jin_Name — Generous bag of sample

: The dark, dry leaves

The dry leaves are a dark umber color and throw off a strong aged smell.

A quick rinse bumps up the aged smell. The first steep has a distant touch of astringency, which is quickly gone.

Gold Menghai — How it (more accurately) looks

The early brews are deep in color. Whether this is do to heavy handed steeping by yours truly or due to camera magic, I am not sure. The second photo is more representative of the accurate soup color.

Pine sap wafted off of the gaiwan early in the session. The brew was tannic on the sides on the sides of the throat, with a quick huigan [sweet afterglow]. My mouth was quickly dried out after each sip, followed by a flood from my salivary glands. I noted that I did not feel the kuwei [pleasant bitterness] was very strong, until I gave a friend a sip. They had been absent from the first five brews and upon drinking the sixth steep, they exclaimed ,”Man, this is bitter!”

I had noticed a sharp increase in the huigan around the third steep, but the kuwei crept up slowly across the session. I was the proverbial frog in a pot, who failed to realize the water (kuwei) was was slowly climbing to a boil.

There was a gooey presence in the throat throughout, which is something I treasure. My last scribble for the session was that I had an oversteep that evening and noted:

I failed to notice how bitter this was in the morning session

A question that several people have discussed with me is whether this tea and the 2011 Jin Dayi will follow a similar trajectory. I can not really weigh in on this issue with any accuracy, since the first time I tried the 2003 Jindayi was after it had been aged a decade. What I can attest to is the strength and enjoyment I had in both sessions. The teas are different, but their similarities are in their body. The price of both is a little off putting, but the 2011 Jin Dayi is at least in the range of most drinkers.

2006 Dayi Sheng (Raw Puer) Teabags

December 13, 2012December 13, 2012 TwoDog2 Leave a comment

Two Dog’s Handy Guide to Writing a Shitty Tea Blog

Don’t post anything for over a week
After not posting for a week, make triumphant return with post about bagged tea

Done and done.

Dayi Teabags — Teabags and holographic collector box

Dayi recently began pushing bagged raw puer and curiosity got the best of me. I entered into the experience with plenty of preconceptions, despite my best effort to come in with a clean slate. Judging books by their covers can lead to faulty conclusions, but when the book cover is a teabag, the book is probably going to be an bargain bin airport spy novel. It’ll do in a pinch on a cross country flight, but you wouldn’t read it on the couch in your living room.

Dayi Teabags

And, so go the Dayi teabags. If you were in the need of a convenient sheng, this will do. Would you brew it for a session on a leisurely Saturday morning? Well, probably not – unless you are a tea blogger with a masochistic streak for sampling the scummy underbelly of the puer world.

The bags contain fannings [tea dust/fragments] of raw menghai puer. But, not just any fannings, 6 YEAR OLD FANNINGS! Nine out of ten puer experts agree, that the best way to age puer is in fanning form! (Nope.) The age of these tea crumbs does not matter much, if at all.

The tea is pointed and astringent, but manages to convey some semblance of raw puer menghai character, which is something. Airport spy novels have their moments. If they didn’t, nobody would read them. They would opt to stare at the seat in front of them for three hours until they arrive in Newark.

I have seen threads floating around on forums from time to time, people who travel or are in an office where it is inconvenient to have implements for brewing; the dayi teabag solution works. It is raw puer, it is decent, and it is not a lot of fuss. It is also an all-star in the teabag leagues, blowing Colourful Yunnan out of the water. It won’t ever have a major league career, but that’s why we have separate leagues.

Kudos to Dayi for a great business decision. Prior to deciding to bag and sell these “6 year old” specks of tea, I guess they were destined for the dumpster. Whoever recommended they started bagging and selling it deserves a promotion.

Dayi Bagged Tea — If you look closely, you will see that this is a bag of tea sweepings

2011 Jin Dayi (Gold Dayi)

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012 TwoDog2 Leave a comment

Jin Dayi and the Golden Ticket

Apache introduced me to the new darling of the Hong Kong internet forums, the 2011 Jin Dayi, with a sample packet (signed with beautiful penmanship, as shown above). The first time I had checked the price of this tea was several months ago, when it was hovering around 215 RMB. By the time I drank the tea, it was nearer to 300 RMB. As of the writing of this article, it is above 300 RMB – or 380 RMB at the flagship store. Some pretty active climbing for a newish tea from a big factory.

Menghai Gold — Wrapper (golden ticket inside)

This runaway freight train price increase is due in no small part to the accolades doled out by Cloud, Hong Kong tea aficionado. The Hong Kong tea forums have been bustling with praise over the last year, with prices rising commensurately.

Jin Dayi Soup — Soup (maybe brewed on the heavy side, should be lighter than this pic)

To be perfectly honest, most Dayi raw puer after the early 2000’s has been a bit of a drag. There are bright spots here and there, but in general, nothing to rave about. After seeing the enthusiasm over this tea, I had to try a bit and jump on the bandwagon.

The first cup is a bell tolling. A loud declaration of presence. There is kuwei [pleasant bitterness] and a syrupy coating in the throat from the outset. There are bones and guts and body. These are high compliments, as most Dayi sheng from recent years is a bit lacking in the skeletal department.

The gold dayi also has fortitude. Deep into the session, there is still a strength of kuwei and full body that is not present in most of the recent Dayi teas I have tried. It is clear why Cloud and the HK tea forum crowd are backers of this tea.

The Jin Dayi is typical in its menghai character, but it is done better than any I have had in previous years. As for what I mean by menghai character, Hobbes described it as

dark-mushroom with malt, and plenty of hardcore bitterness.

This is in the ballpark of how I would describe Jin Dayi, if I could swap out mushroom for raw tobacco. The darkness, malt, and hardcore kuwei are all there in force. Altogether these components combine for a very intense and pleasurable session.

One last note, the 2011 Jin Dayi blend has a fairly wide range in leaf size. Some buds, some larger broad leafs. Ages of the material also ranges, but in general seem to be a few years old. It drinks more smoothly than several other 2011 Dayi blends I have sampled. Some details on the leaves in pics above and below.

tea buds and broad leaf — Big leaves and buds

If you plan on purchasing this tea, probably better to do it sooner than later. The price will probably climb into farcical territory soon, if it is not there already.

Special thanks to Apache for allowing me to sample a tea I might not have otherwise gotten around to!

2002 Menghai 7542 Qingbing (201)

September 3, 2012September 3, 2012 TwoDog2 3 Comments

Preconception can be a pain. My brain had already worked out a wonderful expectation of what a ten year plus 7542 puer ought to be, and I had latched on to the idea, despite the session flying in the opposite direction. Where that concept came from, I am not sure. Probably a conglomeration of romanticized past experiences coupled with the unshakeable optimism that accompanies hunger or thirst. Your stomach is empty and someone utters the words “dessert”. Your thoughts drift into a world of decadent layered cheese cakes, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, and warm fruit pies. Then, the waiter brings over a plate of ho hos. (No offense to the readers who like ho hos, they have their place, but that aren’t a homemade cake) Anyhow, this particular cake did not quite live up to my expectations, which is more my own fault than the cakes. The tea was good, and will likely be better if stored humidly for a few more years.

7542 is a recipe that can have some fairly wide variations. Different factories and years label 7542 (A recipe that has officially been in use since 1975) on cakes, which when consumed side-by-side, bear only a faint resemblance. Menghai factory (Dayi) productions of 7542 tend to be fairly uniform, but when you factor in further variables like different productions (this particular sample was 201 pi) and aging, you get further off into the unquantifiable ether of puer. This particular tea falls somewhere in the middle of the pack, not the best example, but far from the worst. (see: ho hos)

Menghai 7542 puer tea — Dry Menghai 7542 puer

The scent of the dry leaves is gentle and woody. The leaves are on the dry side of the moisture spectrum with a matte finish. I only know that this tea spent the last couple of years in Sichuan, prior to that, it’s anybody’s guess. The leaves give off a middle-aged smell.

Dayi 7542 dry puer leaves — A more intimate view of the dry cake

The liquor is a dark ochre color, not as red as my amateurish photography suggests. The first whiffs off of the gaiwan smell of scotch, vanilla, and tobacco.

aged puer tea — A decade of age gives the liquor an amber hue

The first steeping was oddly se [astringent], which was a surprise. Given the odors coming off of the dry and wet leaves, I would not have imagined the tea to be very astringent. My guess would have been velvety smoothness, but that turned out to be wishful thinking. After the first steeping, it became less harsh, but remained tannic throughout the session. Around steep number four, the leaves started to open up and some licorice appeared in the cup.

The teas best feature was its huigan [sweet aftertaste] and persistent throat coating. The aged taste was present, but it seemed to have been subjected to much drier storage than a few other samples in the batch. It could use a year in the steam room, as it is still pretty edgy. Maybe I had too many expectations about what this tea ought to be, instead of letting the tea be what it was. I’ll take note of this tendency and never force my hypothetical son, Billy, to join the basketball team against his will. Billy, if you want to dance, I fully support your decision to join the Russian ballet. And 2002 Dayi 7542 puer, may you hold on to your youthful astringency until thine heart is content.