Teas We Like vs Liquid Proust: 2010 Dayi 7542 001

Teas We Like natural Taiwanese stored offering (purchased for 58.00 a cake but a slightly more aggressively stored version is stillavailable for $75.00 for 357g cake or $0.21/g) is first up…

Dry leaves smell of strong dried longan fruits, raison, and slight smoke.

First infusion has a watery smoky tobacco leaf onset with a slight sweet plum returning after faint flat bitterness.  Flat slightly tight tongue coating.  Lasting bitterness in the mouth.

The second infusion has a woody smoky plum taste with a mild but persistent bitterness that returns some mild sweet plum tastes.  The mouthfeeling is tight.  There are woody metallic tastes in there as well as some creamy sweet tastes as well.  The dominant tastes are bitter with plum and fainter smoky wood.  Strong energetic Qi.

The third infusion has a creamy woody slight smokey bitter-sweetness with a returning plum sweetness.  The bitterness is overarching and a bit acidic in the mouth.  There is a chalky slight tight mouthfeeling over the tongue and mouth.  Minutes later there is some caramel faintness in there under bitterness. Strong Qi.

The fourth infusion has a plum woody onset that transforms into a bitter-sweet taste.  The retuning plum is nice and is paired with a camphor coolness. The mouthfeeling is becoming a thinner tight chalky.  Bitter-sweet taste lingers in the mouth.

The fifth infusion has a sweet creamy sweet and plum onset with woody tastes combining with significant bitterness.  The bitterness lingers and has a bit of puckering tightness to the mouth.  There is a slightly cool throat.  Bread and plum tastes are in the aftertaste minutes later.  Strong alerting energy.

6^th is let to cool luke warm and gives off a tasty melon, plum, almost floral resin woodiness.  There is some mild bitterness and some faint coolness.  It finishes cool and plum over a mild sticky mouthfeeling.  Nice alerting energy.  Lots of sweeter flavours more than bitter here.

7^th has a dark bitter woody taste up front with a darker taste to it.  This infusion is a lot bitterer but also a bit creamy buttery deeper taste to it.  Plum aftertaste.  Sticky mouthfeeling.  Nice alerting energy.

8^th has a sweet onset of melon, sour plum, and sweet plum with a dark coco bittersweetness to it.  This has a nice long coco taste and aftertaste now.  Really delicious over a chalky full mouthfeeling.  Nice alertness.

9^th has a bitter woody smokey taste now with a woody bitter-creamy sweetness.  The bitterness is almost a vegetal bitterness here that you would see in a younger/ less strongly stored 7542.  Nice tight full coating.  Saliva returning creamy coco sweetness.

10^th infusion has that bitter woody smoky vegetal bitterness with a returning breath cooling and bitter-sweetness coco.  Tight mouthfeeling, slight dry.  Strong alerting.  Chocolate coco bitter-sweet aftertaste.

11^th is left to cool and gives a nice coco chocolate bitter a bit of vegetal bitterness, plum, full sticky dry coating on tongue.  Nice cooling afterwards with a nice coco plum mild bitter.  Strong alerting still.

 

Liquid Proust version ($72.00 for 357g cake or $0.20/g

whichis now sold out) is up second and is described by Liquid Proust as “near perfect storage” I believe that it could be Taiwanese dry stored by my notes below…

Dry leaves have a smoky dry woody even faint pear-melon odour.

First infusion has a melon fruity woody smoky watery taste with a cool pungent tingling vibrant finish with smoke and woody taste dominating.  The mouthfeeling is slightly numb tingling.

The second infusion has a quick pear fruity onset that turns to a dry woody smoke, very slight bitter, with a sweet fruity clear pear returning that fades into dry woody smoke.  There is a bit of mild bitter astringency.  Tight slight drying mouthfeeling.

The third infusion has a quick moving fruity pop of taste.  The fruit has a stewed jam like quality like sticky dried longan fruits.  The sweetness has a thick dense syrupiness to it- very full throughout and delivers a certain vibrancy over a slight smoky woody background.  Not much bitterness here, surprisingly sweet.

The 4^th infusion has a syrupy sweet fruity onset with a smoky syrupy dry woody under taste.  The taste is thick and smooth and oily in the mouth with a nice long coolness.  There is lots of syrupy sweetness with a bitter woody smoke underneath- a nice melded and cohesive taste.  Coco aftertaste minutes later.  Sticky mouthcoating.  Strong alertness.  Saliva returning oily sweetness.

5^th infusion has a syrupy fruity sweet taste that has a smoky dry woody long cool pungent taste.  There is some floral melon that is underneath.  There is a nice oiliness to this 7542 over a drier tight mouthfeeling.  There is surprisingly not too much bitterness.

6^th smooth creamy sweet, a bit fruity with mild bitterness.  Nice combo of fruity sweet, coco bittersweet, and creamy bread-like sweetness.  Not much woody or smoke here.

7^th has a creamy fruity pear bread taste with faint bitterness underneath.  The fruitiness returns with coolness and trails out in the breath over a slight tight/ slight dry mouthfeeling.  Nice alertness.  It’s been a very altering kind of day with both of these 2010 7542s!

8^th is cooled down and is a creamy fruity pear chocolate tasting thing.  The taste is really nice and I’m left wondering if this is the most delicious dry stored 7542 I’ve tried.  Bitterness is not as much but faintly there.  Chalky tongue coating.

9^th is a nice mix of fruity sweetness and bitter coco.  This is more fruity and sweet than the Teas We Like version.  There is a nice smoky dry woody finish.

10^th is much the same balance and mix of fruity sweetness and bitter coco.  Still more weight to the sweetness than bitter compared to most 7542 storage.

11^th infusion was left in the cup overnight and I go back to it the next day… it has a resin woody incense woody body with a syrupy sweet fruity finish in the mouth.

The spent leaves of both 7542s are left overnight then mug steeped out the next day... the Teas We Like offering is deep darker bitter with some astringent vegetable bitter taste not that sweet at all and a bit awkward.  The Liquid Proust offering has a sweet fruity vegetable bitterness with a longer cooling with a subtle more flat almost tart smoke to it.  A subtle coco bitterness comes out minutes later.  The Liquid Proust mug steeping is the better tasting and more complex mug.  The Teas We Like has a more peaty taste to it but more cohesive where the Liquid Proust version is more vibrant and changing and compartmentalized in the mug steeping of spent leaves.

Overall, this is an interesting comparison because they are both nicely stored versions of the 7542 but also dramatically different in their strengths.  The Teas We Like offering is the stronger of the two with a stronger, more condensed taste with much more intense bitterness.  The bitter taste is the dominant throughout the session.  There is also much more change from infusion to infusion with the Teas We Like offering- this is how the Teas We Like 7542 is complex.  However, the Teas We Like version has a much more narrow taste profile, less texture, and shorted aftertaste compared to the Liquid Proust version.  The Liquid Proust version is much more sweet and vibrant with much less intense bitterness.  The Liquid Proust 7542 has a thicker more oily texture and longer and more cooling and complex throatfeeling and aftertaste. Overall, they are both really nice versions of 7542!  I love the comparison!

I think that this first version on offer at Teas We Like would be nicer for aged in more humid environments but for my really dry storage that I have here in Canada the Liquid Proust Version would probably age out better for my situation. 

It’s really nice to finally see some genuine interest in the classic 7542 and I hope that both Liquid Proust and Teas We Like will continue to offer affordable 7542.  It looks like Liquid Proust has a 2016 short Natural Hongkong stored version up already.  It looks also like the Remaining Teas We Like 2010 7542s are from a batch with more aggressive storage and are going for $75.00 a cake (so basically paying more for something with a little less power, I imagine).  It is a real issue of great timing in buying 7542 as well as many factory puerh cakes in general.  This is because there is a small window in the life of a semi-aged cake where you can get a feel for how it’s going to age out and you can get a clearer read on how it’s going to age out but once enough people have this knowledge prices can shoot up quickly.  For the 7542 there is also serious speculating that you have to deal with as well- not just the taste experience.  This makes it a continual challenge too for vendors who aim to offer the best 7542 with the best quality because as soon as they find a good batch at a good price quickly it rises in price and no longer becomes worth it.  My hope is that these two vendors will be up for the challenge in the future and continue to offer us ongoing 7542 options!

Peace