7581 from Su

This was a Chinese New Year gift from our favorite munificent Malaysian, Su. It's a 7581, a brick whose recipe is normally shu pu'er of a lighter fermentation, but this incarnation is sheng. In the picture above, you can clearly see all sheng leaves in the brick: the leaves are greenish-purple, but more importantly, each sits individually with well defined edges. Shu pu'er tends to have reddish brown leaves with more golden colored tips, and in shu pu'er the edge where one leaf ends and another begins is blurred. 

I don't recall what year it's supposed to be from or how it was stored or with whom it was stored for most of its life, but at first waft of the rinsed leaves, a few things become apparent: this tea had dry storage, almost too dry for my tastes, and the leaves are probably not from Xishuangbanna. The fragrance smells very strongly of hay, not at all floral, and more savory than sweet. The first taste has me guessing the leaves come largely from Dehong, and perhaps the purple on the dry leaf indicates a local, nonstandard daye varietal. Flavor-wise, it shares features with Pingxiwangfu brick Su sent me previously, but with more unpleasant bitterness.

The leaves quickly shed their dark colors and turn brighter shades of olive green during brewing, and this, along with the orange brew, makes me think it's been rather dry stored.

It hits me in the stomach, and I wish I'd eaten something before drinking it. 

It offers little aftertaste, which is mostly metallic and herbal. The liquor feels very soft, but  this could be my water. The brew tastes best when piping hot and in later infusions, when it becomes a little sweeter.

This 7581 is something I'd want to put away for another 10 years before revisiting!