2010 Douji "Yiwu"

Playing to one of Douji's strengths, I expect the Yiwu cake from 2010 to be one of their finest.

Such are the powers of deciding something in advance, it is instructive to approach the tea-table (and, indeed, most things in life) with a clear mind.

Small leaves and fragments, shown above, make up this cake, which has a heavy tobacco scent.  An active, yellow soup rapidly takes on orange tones as it sits in the air for a moment or two.

The tobacco from the scent fills the back of the nose after the swallow, yet there is also an unwelcome citric tone, almost grapefruit-like.  I can taste a little of Douji's proprietary roasted creaminess, which is prevalent in their house blends such as "Dadou" and "Shengdou".

The plantation base here is not rough, but it is sour, particularly in the finish when it resounds in the throat and repeats on the tongue.  The true Yiwu notes come and go before the swallow.

There have been better Yiwu cakes from the Yiwu Zhengshan Tea Co., and I won't be pursuing this one much further.  It's not nasty, but it's a long way from the best of their game.  Maybe this is merely the effect of market forces at work - supply and demand.

Some of the Yunnan Sourcing Yiwu cakes are markedly better than this, for a similar price, for example.  More on those later...

My hopes will remain high for the 2011 Douji Yiwu.