2009 YiWu MaHei (Pu-erh.sk)

MaHei is short for MaHeiZhai which is a puerh producing village in Yiwu reputed to have wild-growing trees. This sample belongs to those more interesting ancient Yiwu cakes I have tasted so far.

My description of the characteristics of this tea will not differ much from other Yiwu old tree samples I've had a chance to try recently. It is rather sweet and round with no bitterness nor astringency. It can be brewed for quite some time and it just doesn't get any worse, perhaps only stronger in aroma and flavour. The typical Yiwu honey-like sweet taste is already present in the first infusion and the sweetness develops further with no significant change in character. It gets a bit weaker after the 6th infusion but it is still present in the overall character of the brew until the very last cup. 

I like the leaves of this sample - clean, easily separable and beautiful. The smell of dry leaf is sweet, fruity and almost ripe. I was able to identify a hidden tone of chocolate dipped cherries. I truly enjoyed the way the tea got thicker, the taste rounder and sweeter with every next cup.

Aftertaste came with a nice refreshing citrus trace. The fourth infusion was surprisingly creamy. The tea gets a bit dry after the 7th brew but it is not as strong as the very young leaf often can be and does not impact the taste much.     

A very friendly cake I must say - sweet, fruity, almond-like, almost velvet. I enjoyed it as much as the 2009 Yiwu LuoShuiDong sample that I haven't reviewed here. I, however, seem to run out of words when describing the taste of Yiwu area. All the old tree samples from 2009 and 2010 I have tasted were simply good - sweet, almost predictable in taste. They only differ in gentle undertones that are not as easy to distinguish. It may also be the matter of developing tasting skills that only come with time and practice.

Good tea.