There are lots of cakes out there made by famous personages, most of whom are from Taiwan. The quality of these things vary from very good to very poor, especially when factoring in the price involved, which is almost always high, because there is usually a substantial premium charged for these things, precisely due to the fame of the person who made them. This cake, the Zipin hao from 2003, was made by Zhou Yu of Wistaria House.
I distinctly remember seeing this at Wistaria the first time I visited in 2005. Back then, my thought was “my god, this thing is expensive”, which it was. I can’t quite remember how much it was, but it was heads and shoulders above what a normal cake sold for back in the day, and being a poor graduate student, I balked and never bought it. Nor did I try it at the time, because instead I spent my money drinking some loose Tongqing hao from Wistaria instead. It was good, and the Zipin was forgotten.
I had picked up a cake of their 2007 Hongyin last time I visited, and this time I went back to Wistaria again during my most recent trip to Taipei, and remembered this cake. When I inquired how much, the price was shocking – shocking low, relatively speaking anyway for something approaching 10 years and made by a famous tea master. At 4200 NTD, it’s not cheap for a single cake, but compared to a lot of new stuff, its price is more than reasonable. I bought one.
The dry leaves really don’t look too good. The cake’s front looks like someone stomped on it. Six Famous Tea Mountains’ pressing skill was never great, and it’s evident here too. But then, we don’t judge teas by their looks.
How does it taste? One word – good. It’s got this nice, long lasting aftertaste. It has qi. It has body. I brewed it pretty light, because these days I’m trying to limit my caffeine intake, but the tea still delivered. It’s no longer youthful, and exhibits a taste that is typical of something that’s been around for its age and stored in a wettish climate. The wet leaves look good too.
At this point, one must wonder – why bother buying new cakes of teas that are the same price as this, when there’s something like this to be had? At the same price, you can have something from a reputable tea master aged 10 years, or you can buy some new cake of supposed old tree material (a sometimes questionable claim) and chance it ten years from now. To me, the choice seems pretty obvious.
11 responses so far ↓
Phyll Sheng // November 13, 2012 at 8:53 am |
How many labels does ZY make? I have heard of his hongyin, Yiwu, and now this zipin hao. Thanks.
MarshalN // November 13, 2012 at 9:04 am |
There are at least those, plus a Longpa from 06, Taihe from 04 and 05, a Qingteng, and a few others.
Phyll Sheng // December 18, 2012 at 3:47 am |
Didn’t have time to try the Longpa and Taihe while I was visiting Wistaria 🙁
Will // November 13, 2012 at 12:32 pm |
The names are fanciful. The zipin is the yiwu area one. The list I sent you should be more or less complete.
Darius Wilkins // November 13, 2012 at 11:48 am |
That’s cheaper than virtually any well stored dayi of that age. More than that, it’s cheaper than most of of today’s expensive but terrible teas, like Douji Bada or ’07 12 Gentlemen Menghai most notoriously. Amazed this tea hasn’t been cleared out yet, because it’s gotten publicity, and it has never gotten bad reviews. This is actually a decent Yiwu, people! Wistaria might be hell to deal with from these shores, but it’s worth the trouble to finangle a contact and buy a tong!
I’ve been curious about the ’07 Hongyin, and would hop to see a review.
Longpa–mostly good deal rather than good tea, it was $65 last I heard. Both XZH and Tai Lian youle are better tea (well, once the smoke goes away for the latter). However, this is a very fruity tea for first stage aged Youle, so plenty of people would like that.
The Taihe is either a JingGu or a Lincang. It’s best attribute is a very oily moderately thick soup, with, on a good day, tons of good flavors in the throat. The top flavor is sour hay, though. The 2005 is a very reasonable price at $110-120. Loose maocha is $27/2oz.
MarshalN // November 13, 2012 at 10:18 pm |
Yes, it is indeed cheaper than almost everything from 2003 that has any kind of reputation.
I have a cake of the 07 Hongyin, maybe i should post something about it
TwoDog // November 14, 2012 at 1:57 am |
Please do. Would like to see how it has aged and how it compares
SilentChaos // November 14, 2012 at 9:26 am |
*Maybe we’ll see a sudden spike in sales of plane tickets to Taiwan
Vincent Becker // November 18, 2012 at 8:30 am |
Great blog! Love that last photo of the silky, wet leaves.
sergio // August 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm |
Hello MarshalN,
Thank you for this review. Could you please tell me where I can purchase at least a sample of the 2003 Zipin hao? It might be too late. But at least I tried!
Thank you,
elrockers.
benashzamora@yahoo.com
MarshalN // August 18, 2013 at 10:28 am |
They still sell it at their physical store. However, I don’t believe they sell online at all.