2010 Dayi 7562

As mentioned in my post on the 7452 cake, the 7562 recipe offers heavy competition in the realm of Menghai shu pu. A little grittier and less refined than 7452, the 7562 brick's blend contains more heavy fermentation leaves. This yields a greater complexity than the aforementioned cake, but sometimes at the cost of brewing tenacity and usually making it less "easy" to drink.

This year's 7562 is certainly more complex than 7452. It's earthy, chalky, woody, mineral, and aromatic. The earthiness and chalk/talk are bold and bolder still after the tea cools in your cup: a shu lover's shu pu.

As the tea brews on, it lightens some, tasting of bark and then of wood, eventually tasting thinly of rocks--or, at least, tasting the way rocks smell. All in all, it gives the impression of wet stored sheng pu'er but without the mold smell/flavor and with more punch.

7562 lasted a few infusions less than 7452, perhaps 9 good infusions. Knowing of its limitations, I used a lot of leaf to get this many out of the tea. I think that, using less leaf, the tea would have a smoother feel, but taste less rich.

I brewed leaves from the back of the brick. As you can see, there's a fair amount of broken stem in the mix.