’07 Silver Peacock — Sweet Depth and the Confidence of a Nearly 20‑Year Cure
The ’07 Silver Peacock carries the authenticity and tradition that define Xinghai Tea Factory, long nicknamed “Menghai Tea Factory #2″ for its lineage and processing discipline. Zhang Jianli — one of the Five Golden Flowers of Menghai Tea Factory — founded Xinghai with a clear intention: preserve Menghai craft while shaping a factory identity rooted in her own professional and regional background. The “Hai” in Xinghai signals that heritage directly.
Sweet, bready depth rises immediately, the kind of warmth that feels baked into the leaf itself. Perfect bitterness follows — firm, clean, and beautifully aligned with the cake’s mid‑aged character. The light fermentation, achieved through a shorter wet‑piling duration, gives the tea structure and clarity without muting the grain‑sweetness or the woody warmth.
The Silver Peacock arrives fully formed. Sweet bread. Perfect bitterness. A depth shaped but by nearly two decades of steady curing, where the material settles, integrates, and gains the quiet sweetness that only time can produce. I stack this production giving two soaks of a minute-and-a-half, and a final of about five minutes.
- 10-11g of ripe Silver Peacock in 150ml water
- 1st infusion 1.5 min
- 2nd 2 min stacked with first
- drink. Soak 3rd infusion 5 min
Enthusiasts who chase balanced mid‑aged sheng will feel the pull of this everyday treasure immediately. The cake offers sweetness with backbone, warmth with definition, and a calm emotional resonance that reflects both its lineage and its maker. It stands as a confident expression of Zhang Jianli’s craft — a tea with history, intention, and a clear sense of self.
