2005 Yiwu

In a Sentence

Powerful tangy softness.

Wet Leaf Aroma

fruity-sour(stone fruits), barnyard/animal, lemon zest

Tasting Notes

Starts with tangy brightness on the tongue. Body is a clean woody core with a clear fruitiness. Mouthfeel oily and coating, texture soft and full. Overall a perceived softness, yet quite lively — zesty, slightly sour in the first steeps with herbal backbone. There is steady sense sweetness throughout, becoming more pronounced in later steeps as the bright notes round off, leaving a gentle, sweet, herbal-woody profile with a long aftertaste.

What it feels like

Airy, bright almost ethereal.

Quick

Sheng ★★★★ Bi Yun Hao

Details

Entry Date

21.01.2026

Country

China

Region

Yiwu

Properties

Qi (1-5) i The tea’s felt effect on body and mind.

4 Pronounced from the start. has a “floaty” feel, with a good sense of depth

Huí Gān i Returning sweetness after bitterness, perceived after swallowing.

salivating, crisp with slight sweetness

Hóu Yùn i Throat resonance — the depth and length of the finish.

gentle cooling. opening up the throat

Kōu Gǎn i Mouthfeel: texture, density, softness, or dryness.

somewhat oily - full but still light

Journal

2026-01-21

Recently I’ve been drinking quite a few middle-aged sheng samples from Yiwu, most of them around twenty years old. Many of the (drier stored ones) share a similar character: a woody body with a certain bright zest, woven into a soft sweetness - more or less noticeable.

This one carries a steady sweetness throughout, though at first it’s partly masked by lively, tangy notes at first. After a few steeps, things begin to settle. The profile becomes more balanced and smoother. It’s clean taste - I could not notice storage notes. Aftertaste is crisp with a cooling freshness, and encouraging deep breaths.

As the session progresses, the Yiwu character shows clear, with an underlying softness and a reverberating aftertaste.

The Energy is right there from the start - the quality of the material is felt nicely throughout the body.

For my personal preference a tad too tangy/bright to start with.