A PuErh obsessed friend living in Yunnan turned us on to this cake made by another producer and after one taste we snapped it up.
This ripened PuErh is Gong Ting grade which is top drawer pickings with a predominance of buds and young leaves. This gives the tea a thick texture and malty flavour reminiscent of aspects of Yunnan Dian Hong (black tea made from a lot of buds).
The leaves are picked from around 80 year old tea trees so whilst this is not a gushu like our retired Sacred Owl, it is certainly not made from garden tea and has a strong depth. The cake is beautiful and the fermentation or ripening of the leaves has been handled immaculately.
This is an easy drinking ripe PuErh. I do not mean that it is simple or basic in flavour – the tea has richness and character in abundance. I mean that the flavour profile is full of universally loved tastes – vanilla, malt, cola botanicals and wooden casks.