This batch was originally intended for Menghai Tea Factory but became lost and forgotten along the way. As a result the tea was never compressed into a teacake and remained in loose leaf form. Assessing the physical appearance of the leaves I find them to be in line with Menghai blended materials. The leaf material consists of tender plantation shoots that have been finely chopped and heavily rolled in the same style that can be found in Menghai’s famous recipes of 7542 and 7532.
The age character of the 1997 loose leaf is representative of a powerful semi aged tea. Tasting this tea I am immediately drawn to make comparisons with the 2003 Purple Dayi from Menghai Tea Factory. The difference in age and maturity of the 2 teas becomes obvious in a comparative tasting. The 1997 batch is considerably more mature than its younger counterpart revealing superior clarity and balance. The brew is visibly clear with the orange brown hues of age. The tea has noticeably softened and mellowed with age but retains some astringency. There are considerable complexity and nuances to be found, wood spice, camphor, plums, wild honey and others that are intermingled in this complex and vigorous brew. Permitting the brew to slightly cool and deliberately letting the tea soak into the cavities of the mouth allows the senses to fully immerse in the appreciation of this tea.
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Additional Note: From my observations the mainstream recognition of dry storage started around 2003 when the Menghai 88 Qingbing would emerge on to the scene. This teacake was specially stored by Mr Chan Kowk Yee the owner of The Best Tea House (Hong Kong) who is most famous for being the pioneer for dry storage and introducing new parameters for puerh tea storage that would employ the use of "a clean and airy dry warehouse" (in their own words) as oppose to the more traditional (wet) storage.