My favourite 2009 cooked puerh is the
Laotongzhi (老同志) Anning Haiwan (海湾) 2009 No. 1 Recipe (一号熟饼) 901.
The primary reasons are because the No. 1 Recipe formula was developed and supervised by Haiwan directors
Mr. Zou Bing Liang (who co-invented cooked puerh in 1973 when he was at Menghai before defecting to Haiwan) and Ms Lu Quo Ling (ex-Kunming Tea Factory), and the leaf quality of the No. 1 Recipe is superior because it comes from wild old arbor trees grown at a high altitude of 1700 meters, compared to the commercially farmed low altitude Dayi bushes. Therefore the
cha di (茶地) is superior to anything I've seen from other manufacturers. I discovered this tea when I walked into a Haiwan Authorised Dealer in Guangzhou and said, show me your best 2009 cooked puerh. This product was designed to beat Dayi and it did. Even Dayi's flagship
2009 Yun Ding (云鼎) 901 (which, as the name suggests, is made from high altitude bushes)(and which I bought a tong of before I discovered the Haiwan) has inferior
cha di and was not post-fermented as well hence it contains more
wo dui.
The only 2009 cooked puerh I have tried that can beat the Haiwan is the
2009 Peak Bulang, which is made from select wild old trees and fermented in bamboo instead of the floor, resulting in virtually no
wo dui!. However, it costs 900% more than the Haiwan (hence not as cost effective) and is completely sold out. According to the dealer, an American buyer bought it all up. However, I think samples are still available. This tea was sold out because it was produced in low quantities and the fermentation was closely supervised by the Peak team, hence it is not fair to compare this to other mass produced tea which are in a different league.
Having said that, 2009 cooked puerh should not be consumed before 2012.