Interesting: 2018 Puerist Da Miao

Da Miao is a relatively unknown area of Yiwu that has very low output each year.  Puerist has been producing cakes from this area for a while now.  I find the puerh from Da Miao to be interesting for the price with a Qi sensation of a much more expensive Gushu.  Readers of this blog may have remembered that I blind sampled the 2021 Puerist Da Miao with a bit of comparison that followed.  This 2018 Puerist Da Miao goes for approx $97.00 for 200g cake.  This post and the next few posts on the 2019 &2020 Puerist Da Miao cakes were taken from notes taken a few years ago…

The small dry leaves have a sweet creamy woody grassiness to it with an expanding fluffy sweet undertone.

The first infusion has a watery woody flat sweet taste almost metallic and clean with a bit of mushroom savory sweet finish.  Very mild faint empty mouthfeeling and throat feeling.

The second has a mushroom woody almost savoury brothy taste that kind of reminds me of Northern areas.  The finish is kind of metallic and sweet savoury mushroom.  Lots of interesting subtle light airy complexity.  Flat sticky faint tongue feeling.  The cooled down cup as a caramel and creamy candy.  The mouthfeeling is very thin faint flat.  No bitterness or astringency.

The third infusion has a mild milky mushroomy broth almost olive oil that is very clear and smooth almost a faint silky mouthfeeling.  The tastes kind of fade into the distance without a faint retuning candy with a thin silky faint oily feeling lingers in the saliva.  The Qi is very mild and there is a faint mid spine tension feeling in the body.  Cooled cup has a faint deep cooling almost mushroomy pineapple taste savoury and sweet like salted caramel. 

The fourth infusion has a mushroom caramel broth almost grassy and salty taste over a flat thin mouthfeeling and saliva producing mid-opening throatfeeling.  Nice Qi sensation.

The fifth develops a pungent grassy minty mushroom woody caramel taste.  Quite clear and complex over a flat tonguefeeling and opening mid-throat sensation.  There is a savory salty aftertaste left in the mouth with cantaloupe tastes and tangerine peel.  Very expansive and freeing Qi in the mind with open spine feeling a subtle feeling.  There is a little bit of hard to notice astringency that hits my empty stomach.

The sixth infusion has a broth, mushroom, almost orange peel onset with a mild bitterness developing.  The bitter dwells on the tongue and gives the mouth a puckering feeling.  The aftertaste is a bitter orange peel and mushroom taste.  There is a low almost minty pungency.  Qi is expansive in the mind and has soft spine feelings.  It makes me feel happy and free.

The seventh infusion has an orange juicy that quickly turns metallic in the mouth over a flat slight dry sand tounge sensation.  There is an almost peach taste with grassy woody and savoury broth salty finish.  There is a faint low pungency with mild candy finish.  There is lots going on here and I would guess this to be an area blend rather than a strict single estate thing.  There is a faint long candy finish minutes later because the throat at a deep-mid opening sensation.  This is an interesting puerh.

The eighth infusion is consumed cool and gives off a salted caramel taste with a faint building pungency and a candy finish.  Nice gritty tongue coating and open throat sensation.  Nice mind freeing expansive Qi.  Body wobbling sensation and soft spine tingles.

The ninth infusion has a salty, broth, savory, orange peel, mild bitter, candy grassy complex taste.  The mouthfeeling is gritting on tongue and ethereal and opening to mid-to-deep throat.  Nice happy feeling with subtle body sensations.

The 10^th infusion has an almost coco milky orange peel and grassy onset.  It transforms to a salty and savoury faint candy sweetness in the breath. There is a complex and interesting transformation of tastes across each sip.  The mouthfeeling is kind of unusually gritty but soft and the throat is ethereal.  Long candy finish and spacy qi is developing with nice subtle body spine feelings.

The 11^th has a juicy woody savoury taste which ends grassy salty and not too sweet.  There is still a complex flavor but its starting to wane at flash infusions.

At the first signs of wavering I mug steep it out… but it likely could have given a few more good infusions…

There is a bitter orange peel with mushroom grass and candy some dry wood caramel nice balance of savory and sweet and bitter and bland… no sour but nice taste dimensions here.

Complex taste, interesting mouthfeeling.

 Peace