This is a tea drinker's tea. Possessing a charming aged character and vivid flavors.
The range in quality of private productions is extremely wide-ranging. It takes considerable patience and effort to filter out the good teas from the mass of low quality productions. Find the right tea and you can get excellent value for the quality offered. This batch of teacakes is one such example. No Hype/No Brand Premium/No Regional Markup, it delivers excellent value for the quality and appreciation of the leaf. The tea was conditioned with a light touch of traditional wet storage to round out its rough edges and enhance its sweetness and texture. The tea retains a good portion of the natural complexity from raw sheng puerh tea. The teacake consists of a blend of big tree material (wild leaf material which would not have been expensive at the time) and plantation. The big tree material adds another dimension to the character of the tea, providing greater depth and comfort.
The teacake was compressed with stone molds. The color has darkened nicely with age.
The charming complexity, full flavors and liveliness of this tea is best coaxed out under a Gongfu session. For best results ensure that boiling hot water is used throughout the tea session. Give the tea leaves a double rinse before conducting a proper steep to drink. The brew presents a beautiful sweet floral wood expression that is complemented by red fruits, cherry wood notes and leaving a trail of nuances. The middle and later steeps is where the tea shines. The brew is pleasantly sweet, presents a medium to thick body, smooth and lively components. The strength and longevity of this tea is very good. One portion of tea can last me all day and on occasions my steeping has carried over to the next day. The tea is active but the development and presence of a more calming energy can also be felt as it progresses towards greater maturity. This is one to watch.
Updated 09/2019
As the brew cools the sweet fruitiness becomes more pronounced.
The tea leaves are a bit darker in reality. The leaf and stem is soft and retain good elasticity.