Highlights:
- Mr Chen’s home Taiwan dry storage
- Sweet, complex, refined taste
- Deeply calming Qi
Featuring both traditional old puerh and more unique flavour notes, good durability, and a calming, refined, deep Qi which is really the highlight of this tea, this is one of a series of cakes made by this small Chinese producer, this tea hails from the mid-late 1980s.
Ding Xing Hao is rumoured to use leaves from Yibang, the tea certainly feels like inside Yunnan and possibly even banna, but it’s nearly impossible to identify the exact provenience of such an old tea just by tasting, so this is just a curiosity at this stage.
For lovers of (refined) old tea and particularly dry-stored smooth sheng puerh, this tea is a great find.
Mr Chen’s introduction
There’s actually a lot of old tea in Taiwan at much more reasonable prices than in mainland China, unfortunately most of what is found in Taiwan is too wet stored. Mr Chen, a personal friend of ours, old time collector, bought a few tongs of various teas during the 90s and early 2000s (before prices skyrocketed), and has been storing them in his home (dryly) since.
This kind of tea in China sells for crazy money, it’s very lucky we’ve access to these at all, Mr Chen has sold them to us at a very generous price and we pass the great deal on to you.
357g cakes nominal, weight loss over the years because of aging
Nick M. (verified owner) –
Brews quickly, with powerful mahogany wood, autumn leaf, leather and sweet, rich floral aromas. Beautifully clear orange broth with mid amber rim. Palate is earthy, tertiary with a classic mature Puerh character, and a sweetness that quickens with every steep – immediately followed by a menthol infusion and a throaty pinch. There’s a long floral aftertaste. Very Puerh. Exceptionally relaxing and mood enhancing.
I had two sessions with this, first with a high leaf to water ratio in a 90ml Zisha pot, then another the following day with about 3g of leaves (or whatever was left over in my sample) – there seems to be more clarity to the tea with a higher water to leaf ratio.
I wholeheartedly recommend this cake, it’s bold, very smooth, complex and evolving.
Jeremie (verified owner) –
Very interesting tea. It starts immediately with dark infusions. The taste is really evolving. From liu bao, to roasted chocolate stout, and it even brought back childhood memories with a reminiscence of cocoa powder like ovomaltine. The qi is present with a calming and warming effect, from the second infusion. I surely spend too much on teas but this one tells me it’s worth it!
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ColinM (verified owner) –
I love Shu’s and started drinking this at the end of 2022.
I’m writing this review at the end of April’s with a cup in front of me.
Some notes i kept along the way say
“Deep aroma, even several hours after brewing
Later brews, a cool faint menthol impression
You’re never unaware of the old dark forest funk
Smooth taste, subtle & not overwhelming tannins
Easy drinking and as time goes on I’m more aware of it coating the mouth & tongue.
Body feel: Noticeably centered, calm, clear & focused
Drank some after lunch, still feeling slightly full. After a cup, I could feel the effects of the tea distinctly from all else that was going on.”
And today 5 months later I had the same result after a hearty meal – the Ding Xing Hao kind of tapped me on the shoulder and said “here I am”
Will there be any more Paolo?