Tea Session - 1997 Loose Leaf (Dry Storage)

Close up of a heavily kneaded tea leaf showing traces of dried sappy residue and micro-activity.

1997 Loose Leaf (Dry Storage)

This 1997 loose leaf is an intriguing puerh tea. What caught my attention was that this tea represents one of the few very clean dry stored puerh teas of the 1990s going against the trend of traditional (wet) storage which was the general norm at the time. The character of this tea reminds me of the famous Menghai 88 Qingbing dry stored teacake. It is my belief that the combination of dry storage and leaf material made to the standard of Menghai Tea Factory are key contributing factors to this resemblance.

 Earthenware containers are slightly porous and make great containers for storing and aging puerh tea.