I wanted to continue my delicious aged puerh drinking streak of the last few weeks so for today’s review, I chose the 1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Puerh from Yee On Tea. It’s a pretty cool company based in Hong Kong and they have really nice Liu Bao and puerh, so I’m curious to see if this one is good as well.
1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Puerh
The 1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Puerh is a raw sheng puerh from 1999 that was not compressed into a tea cake. The material of this tea comes from Mengsong, in the Menghai area.
These leaves were not compressed into a cake so it’s just loose leaf puerh. This makes it different from sheng puerh that is compressed into cakes. If you were to compare this one to a puerh cake of the same age and storage, the loose tea would have aged faster (usually). This one had been aged in Yee On Tea’s warehouse in Hong Kong.
Tea Tasting
- 6.5g for a 150ml Wuhui Dicaoqing teapot
- Water 99°C
The leaves have a uniform dark brown colour and are mostly medium-sized. The aroma has slight notes of camphor and I’m getting strong notes of spices. There is also a touch of wet leaves in a forest on a rainy day. Once the leaves get wet, notes of berries and incense are very prominent.
Infusion 1 (15 sec): the liquor looks fairly thick and syrupy; definitely for a first infusion. Some small bubbles are floating on the liquor. The flavours are rather subtle but I already feel they are in there. The undertone has camphor to it but it feels as if a blanket of wet leaves has covered the camphor. I’m only getting very small hints of what is going on beneath the surface.
Infusion 2 (20 sec): this one has a beautiful dark amber colour. Right from the start, the flavours feel rounder and there is also a light berry sourness going on. This is really lubricating and mouth-watering. Beneath this, camphor is slumbering and I think it’s waiting for the right moment to show itself. These notes of camphor are more noticeable once the liquor has cooled off a bit.
Infusion 3 (25 sec): camphor has moved to the front in this one. It starts out with fresh camphor and becomes creamier from the middle onwards. The aftertaste feels a lot more intense and lasts long. A waltz of creamy camphor that feels just right.
Infusion 4 (30 sec): this one also feels really pleasant in the mouth. Freshness is less noticeable and there is a berry fruitiness going on. The camphor is slowly reappearing towards the finish and in the aftertaste.
Infusion 5 (40 sec): the liquor has a lighter colour but flavours are still fairly intense. There is camphor right there from the start and it slowly disappears towards the end. The aftertaste is still long-lasting, but not as full anymore.
Infusion 6 (long): good that I did a longer infusion because the colour is darker again. The texture doesn’t feel as thick and creamy anymore, but the flavours are still strong. There is camphor at the start, which diminishes a bit and slumbers towards the finish and into the aftertaste. Still really pleasant and delicious.
Infusion 7 (long): more or less the same, but the camphor feels deeper and rounder again. The infusion itself was good, but there was not really an aftertaste.
Conclusion
For its price, this is a really good tea. It has good flavours and mouthfeel and this session was really enjoyable. The liquor was flowing well and immediately coated my whole mouth.
It started out with more subtle notes of camphor that gradually became more intense and creamier. I also got some notes of berries in the middle.
If you want to try the 1999 Second Millennium Sun Withered Raw Puerh, you can buy it over here.
