2008 - Menghai - Peacock of Menghai

It is Sunday, half past midday and I just woke up. As you can guess there was a party last night, some of my colleagues and good friends were celebrating their PhD defences. As I saw these guys so relaxed and happy yesterday, I felt good for them but in the mean time, of course, I felt a bit of envy :). I have a mild hangover but there is easy cure for this – young sheng. 

This cake is another safe bet, it was described by several bloggers (half-dipper, the_skua steeps, tea gobber) and if I remember correctly, always with positive conclusions. I bought it in dragon tea house. Among the shops I know it was the only place I found it available. The price was 43 USD (shipping included) and there was some hesitation at the beginning since his brother – Peacock of Mengsong – is approximately for half of this price at YS. At the end I pulled the trigger anyway (maybe I should work more on my self control). 

5.5g/90ml gaiwan. 10s rinse, 10s, 3s, 3s, 3s, 3s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 1:30, 3min.

The dry leaves have sweet smell with some fruits like orange. After the first rinse a heavy penetrating aroma is released: deep, sweet, dark and also fruity, definitely promising. As you can read above, the steeping times were short at the beginning; I was going with the in – out water method until the 5th infusion and the result was pleasant. Every time a tea has a bitterness level above the average I do short infusions to cut it back and see if the tea still has some depth, and this one certainly has.

The sweet, fruity and bitter elements are still a bit far from each other, however, they should get closer by time and give a hand to each other to make rounder the final effect. I use to associate teas with colours, it comes spontaneously. This tea evolves dark colours in me (not sadness), though it is still young. I thing a dark chocolate with pieces of dried oranges could be a good similitude. 

It is an honestly good tea, being strong and having enough fuel. It is tasty now and I am optimistic about its future as well. If the mentioned 2008 peacock of Mengsong has similar potency I think I will go for it.

PS: the hangover is gone :)