2008 Fengqing Fengshan Yihao
Posted on 7 July 2009
This plain-looking cake of green puer can be had from Yunnan Sourcing for the miserable sum of $9. I think it’s the equivalent of two filter coffees from Starbucks (in Poland, four). We’re not talking about a cup of tea but a 357g cake, which if you apply my liberal dosage, will suffice for 59 sessions of 8 cups each. So much for the puer ‘bubble’ which reputedly inflated tea prices beyond reason.
It might have done so for some upper-bracket brands but the large tea factory of Fengqing (a.k.a. Dianhong Group, hinting at their main activity as a black tea producer) has remained more than reasonable in its pricing. If you browse the internet for opinions about their puer teas, it’s usually dismissive: they’re cheap, basic and uninspiring. Perhaps I’ve been in a forgiving mood of late but I found this utterly satisfying for the price (and better than many $15–20 cakes). One thing it needs is a generous dosage. In fact my initial attempts at 2–3 grams or competition style produced an unaromatic, content-less and anonymous tea. Much better with double that amount of leaf.
Brewed in: dahongpao pot
Dosage: 6g / 130ml
Dry leaf: Compression is rather loose, and the leaves are very easily separated into a clean and intact collection. Reasonable leaf size, minor amount of tips – nothing special here but the quality is good. Wet leaf is quit thin and clearly plantation-grown but mostly wholish and intact, adding to the good overall impression.
Brewing #1 (30 seconds in clay pot)
Tasting notes:
20s: Fairly enjoyable: it is obviously a rather generic pu but at this dosage nicely intense, with medium pale (but not the palest yellow) colour and sweet tobacco dominating in the aroma cup.
30s: As tasty as brewing #1 but a bit less alive, slowly receding into a generic bean-like chewiness and sweetness. Quite some bitterness appearing, but it is of the clean, energetic, positive kind.
40s: More beany character but there are also hints of apricot and almost flowers replacing tobacco in the aroma cup. Some citrusy bitterness on end. Not massively structured but better than expected for the price. Dosage is the key to satisfaction here.
40s, 70s, 60s. Slowly becoming a little generic-candy but still satisfyingly intense. Brewings #5–6 still very good indeed: good huigan.
3m: Surely quite light in flavour but there is still enough bean, mushroom and sweet candy for interest. Long live high dosage. This delivers another half-dozen of gradually fading infusions (provided you keep the times short).
Overall this has all the characteristics of a basic but well-made sheng: tobacco, old wood, beans, some citrus, some invigorating bitterness, reasonable patience. It takes a lot of leaf in the pot to show content and texture, but at this price I don’t mind it at all. This tea will not sparkle a romance with puer if you’re still to be converted, but is really a smart choice if you need (who doesn’t?) an inexpensive tea for various mundane uses. I’m happy I bought it.
