A small, controlled pile, checked step by step
For this 2024 mini-batch, Sandry Law arranged something Haiwan’s factory doesn’t usually run: rather than the standard multi-tonne pile, an 800 kg batch in a dedicated clay-lined room, small enough to monitor closely. The starting material is a mid-grade Da Ye Zhong from Bulang, known for its structural tannins. Sandry tracked the pile temperature through the process, keeping the core at a steady 58°C, cooler than the factory norm, to avoid the marine murkiness that can cling to heavily moistened piles while still building the deep caramel backbone Menghai-style fermentation is known for.
After 45 days the maocha was dried, graded, and stone-pressed into this 357 g bing. The cakes then rested in Sandry’s Kunming facility for four seasons, letting residual enzymatic activity soften the compression before splitting and blind-tasting against reference samples.
The cake opens cleanly, and its aroma already carries the hallmark of a young shu that will age gracefully, a small, deliberate study in what a closely watched pile can do differently from a factory’s usual run.