This perfectly aged bing highlights the refinement in taste that is displayed by some of the notable teas from the Masterpiece and chi-tse eras of puerh production. The cake is well aged, has had clean storage and displays a complex taste profile accompanied with an excellent qi. A perfect example of a well aged puerh made from good quality leaves. This is truly a delight to drink. A tea for special occasions.
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Perfection Review by dorian
One of the things I've always loved about puerh, and in a small part other tea is how the smell of the dry leaf can sometimes either not elude at all or can in fact even set you down a complete blind alley in regards to actual taste.
In my opinion this is perhaps one of puerhs most beautiful gifts. In many ways every puerh is like a present for me. Seldom do I actually guess right before opening.
This snowmark cake is perhaps one of two or three teas I've had in my life that frankly I feel can't accurately be described, subtleties, nuance and just play indescribable in parts in many ways it's like describing some flawless poetry with half a dozen blunt words.
However. I offer my dozen or so blunted words and hope I can shed light on why I consider this perhaps the first or second finest tea I have ever sampled.
I took the glorious 5gram lump of SM and gave it a good old sniff. Needless to say this tea was giving up very little dry.
I Put it in my standard 100ml gaiwan and a ready supply of Highland spring which IMO is the best bottled water one can easily obtain for puerh.
I gave the tea an infusion, a primary rinse.
Right now is probably one of my favourite moments in tea.
The inaugural smell of the wet leaf.
Initially the smell was actually quite potent. A mixture of 50% autumnal fruit and something else entirely alien that I perhaps will never truly be able to describe.
The first drinkable infusion had basically mirrored the smell almost perfectly, the gentle fruitiness is intoxicating and highly refreshing.
I would say this flavour profile, lol almost a movement, last perhaps 2 infusions.
A very gentle bitter but not at all unpleasant, note starts to shine through on the tea.
It is frankly quite atrociously juxtaposed and starts what I will refer to as the flavour clashes.
Throughout the sampling of this tea I am put in mind , and I can shake this, but the composer John cage.
There is something about the way the flavours in his tea inter-react with each other that is experimental to say the least, bordering on intimidating.
This gentle bitterness fades to an even gentler dryness in the mouth which gives a very pronounced mineral feel to the flavour, I'm thinking that gentle flavour yixing can impart.
Stunned and not without a little fear I continue my journey with this tea.
Starting on infusion six the tea develops an inexplicable creamy flavour and texture.
This "changing of the guard" flavour clash is discordant to say the least. It's an epic counterpoint of frankly dazzling complexity.
Discordant bit not at all unpleasant.
In fact, at this point through the session I'm pretty much deciding which arm I'll keep and which one I'll sell in order to get a bing of this remarkable drink.
Humour aside I do find this tea hard to describe because it has so many facets and complexities, short of sharing my memories and/or senses there is no way to show or tell other just how intriguing for me this tea is.
10/10 (Posted on 27/05/2011)