I recently tasted another of these cakes that, although slightly cheaper, had been stored too dryly - there was still some astringency in the unmistakable Xiaguan taste. This cake, with slightly more humid sotrage has lost all this astringency, but retained a complex flavour profile that changes well during the infusions.
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Singular pureness Review by Dorian
I have to say this tea left me feeling a little underwhelmed at first, I was looking for a feeling i have received from tea only once, and hoped that as this as also a Xiaguan iron cake from the 1980's it might tick all the boxes.
I should probably first mention just for those interested how i brew, to be honest no secrets or unusual techniques, i use a 100ml celedon gaiwain and Highland spring water, standard gong fu method, with a 5 gram sample of the tea.
my first infusion was a customary rinse and discard, after which i left lid on gaiwan so tea could hydrate a little, after all these iron cakes are typically quite well named and often need seemingly ages to wake up.
For the first 6-8 infusions (between 5-6 second infusion time) i as undewrhelmed, the cake was starting to break apart but tbh the flavour and magic was not really hitting me.
However, around infusion 9 the show really started, that essence i as looking for had started to come.
What i have found with old xiaguan cakes which i havent elsewhere is this astounding clarity, a purity thats hard to describe but impossible to miss in the tea.
Its almost baptismal and cleansing, this is exactly the Xiaguaness i was seeking.
ATM im on brew, god knows what, 20 something i think, and infusion time is still just 12 seconds!
This tea may have come to the ball late but it seems its gonna have to be forcible kicked out at 3!
All in all i have to say this really is a wonderful tea, the flavour is gentle but persistent, but the feelings and that tangible xiaguanness i spoke of earlier are present in resounding abundance.
9/10 (Posted on 26/05/2011)