Star of Week: 2012 Chen Yun Green Cake, CNNP
I think I’ve figured out what that “pencil shavings” taste is that the bearded dude over at the Tea DB is talking about. It’s a taste that I’ve associated with soda and the orange cremecicle, but it could be associated with pencil shavings as well, I suppose. It’s a taste that lingers in the aftertaste of our Star of the Week, the 2012 Chen Yun Green Cake, by Zhong Cha.
“Chen yun” means something like “old taste.” The name has been thus bestowed because the cake is pressed from mao cha that aged for five years before being pressed into a cake. As such then, the rambunctiousness of a generally young tea is totally absent. Rather, there are honey notes in the taste and fragrance. At the same time, the broth color and taste are is considerably younger than something from ’05-’06. In fact, the broth is light gold with a high degree of clarity.
Hot summer days call for light puerhs. I want them sweet and relatively uncomplicated. Smoke and bitterness are not particularly welcome. Productions that start out good but quickly hit the wall end up leaving a greater sense of dissatisfaction that they do pleasure. The Chen Yun Green Cake is exceptionally even keeled. There is zero smoke and the bitterness is negligible. Those who cannot discern the difference between astringency and bitterness would do well to have a guzzle or two of this treasure. The astringency here blends well with aftertaste, hanging particularly in the cheeks and on the blade of the tongue and front of the palate.
A temperature just above tepid reveals a pleasing sweetness. It tastes as though it is the same recipe that comprises Beijing Olympics and HK Returns cake. The Chen Yun and HK Returns cake have been pressed with considerably more care than the Beijing Olympics, which even despite its high compression has undergone much more transformation and tastes considerably older than the two. Chen Yun still possesses a gentle floral quality that evokes a sense of perfume that is of high quality and worn subtly.
150 ml gaiwan
8g Chen Yun Green Cake
Infusion times ranged from flash infusion to 30s. Yields around 12 infusions.
