2013 Xia Guan Love Forever
Ah made a mistake. Ah truly did. Ah hae nae opened mah eyes wide enough. </Outlander>. I captured this cake in a FB bid. You know, it’s like an un-scratch-able itch when everybody says this cake is good. I’ve read blog, browsed web shop and watched video that praised this cake. I just didn’t take the minute details that the good cake is the one in PAPER TONG, NOT the bamboo tong. I was just too careless, I guess.
Everything looks like it’s normal right?
NO! IT’S NOT NORMAL!
The tea in bamboo shell does not have a date printed for “manufactured date” (生产日期). Why oh why did ye Xia Guan dane tis’???
The top of the cake looks to have more unbroken leaves whiles the back of the cake has choppy leaves like you’ve grown to expect from Xia Guan. You can also see from the leaves that some 5–10% of the leaves have significant browning. I’d believe the tale of this tea has leaves from as old as 2003. It smells like a proper Xia Guan cake too, heavy old books fragrance but minus the smokiness.
This old books smell is immediately identifiable in the first brew. There is also slight bitterness that stays in the middle of the tongue. Banzhang someone said? Throughout the session, there are lots of dryness in the mouth and that created a rough sensation on the tongue. As the tea is near dark amber, it’s very possible that it has high amount of aged maocha probably cramped in the middle. The spent leaves has many shades of green and brown.
I also found a wee bit of tanginess. There is also some sweetness at almost the tail end of the tea session (12+ steeping). I’m not sure if this cake, having been stored 4+ years in Taichung, Taiwan is showing signs of awkward adolescence. As for now, it’s goin’ straight into the sin bin. I have many 10–12 years old 86?3 cakes that taste more enjoyable than this cake.
