“503” Menghai Round Cake“Jiyi” brand · Traditional dry storage

A 2005 ripe cake from the Jianmin Tea Factory in Menghai, recipe number 503. The wrapper reads “Yunnan Menghai Round Tea”, signed “Produced by Jianmin Tea Factory, Menghai, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan”; the outer carton carries the “Jiyi” brand. The factory head, Zuo Jianming, was a senior manager at the Menghai Tea Factory and brought its methods with him. The plant sits about a kilometre from Menghai town; each spring it buys fresh leaf from mountains such as Banzhang and Nannuo.

Aroma: rich and aged. Liquor: deep red and bright, clear like amber. Taste: smooth on entry, full, sweet and slick, with a long finish. Wet leaf: clean and even.