2005 Yiwu

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.

2026-05-02

Tried the 2005 Bi Yun Hao today in a neutral Gaiwan rather than the Zini — and the difference was immediately striking. Much less tangy to start, the sweeter woody-fruity notes coming through with a good clarity that felt almost lemonade-like. Classical Yiwu sweetness, clean storage, no off-putting notes. A certain herbal bitterness is still there, but very much in the background.

Hard to say how much is the clay and how much is the lower leaf-to-water ratio - probably both - but this was a noticeably more approachable drink.