2007 Menghai "Silver Dayi" Sheng Pu Erh 25g Sample

I was very excited to find out that the Menghai Tea Factory, the most famous Pu Erh tea factory in the south of Yunnan Province, had released a new production of their Silver Dayi Bing Cha. The only other time Menghai has released a Bing Cha similar to this one was in 2003, and it quickly became one of the most collectible (and valuable) teas of the decade. The trademark of the Menghai Tea Factory is the 'Da Yi' symbol that appears on their various wrappers, and the wrapper of the 2003 release of this tea was printed in silver-gray. For this reason, 'Silver Dayi' became the common name of this production in the marketplace. The wrapper on this tea from 2007 is slightly different, and reads 'Silver Color Dayi' to identify the blend of this tea to be a similar recipe to the cake from 2003. According to my Chinese sources, the cake is a blend of 2 and 3 year old sun dried Pu-erh tea from the Menghai area in Yunnan, and it was compressed in December of 2007. Using slightly aged base material gives this Pu Erh blend a much more mellow character than other young teas and many distinct layers of flavor that release themselves gradually over many short Gong Fu style steepings. The flavor is also quite pronounced, so it could prove to be an excellent buy for collectors and/or for people to consume in the short run.