1992 Tibetan Kang Brick Tea

Tea type
Pu'erh Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Dust, Honeysuckle, Moss, Mushrooms, Sawdust, Wood, Woody, Earth, Forest Floor, Honey, Leather, Musty, Tangy, Wet Moss, Plum, Stonefruit, Tart, Pecan, Raisins, Autumn Leaf Pile, Fruity, Wet Wood, Sweet
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec 6 g 6 oz / 180 ml

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9 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Not my cup of tea. The leaves appeared dirty and decayed, and tasted more of an old woolen blanket than tea. Aroma didn’t appeal to me either.” Read full tasting note
    50
  • “I brewed this tea gong fu style as I do for most teas. The steamed leaves have a very intense aroma of Yew Wood which acquires a shroomy and honey like aroma when washed. I had to wash this tea...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “This took a long rinse and two (very hot) steeps to fully ‘open.’ Once it did, it was mild and warming, not too funky at all, and overall a very gentle tea. I enjoyed it. The age of the tea was...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “I tried this one out today and was not a huge fan. Used 7g in a 120mL gaiwan with boiled water. The compression was quite tight. After two rinses, I tried to start with a 15s steep, and the...” Read full tasting note

From Yunnan Sourcing

These “Kang” bricks were produced in the small tea factory in Province of Guizhou and then sent to Tibet where they were stored in a family home for more than ten years. These are packaged in long (1 meter) bamboo baskets, about 20 to each length. Traditionally these were carried on the backs of sherpas or horse’s for thousands of kilometers. Not so long ago teas like this were legal tender in Tibetan areas and was given in payment for a dowry, a horse, etc. The tea is boiled with yak butter to produce a form of yak butter tea. I prefer to drink it all by itself, washing the first two infusions (like Pu-erh) and drinking the latter infusions.

Vintage: Spring 1992 small-leaf varietal of “hei cha” material from Guizhou

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

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9 Tasting Notes

50
66 tasting notes

Not my cup of tea. The leaves appeared dirty and decayed, and tasted more of an old woolen blanket than tea. Aroma didn’t appeal to me either.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
eliyahu

perhaps you received a spoilt brick?

TeaEarleGreyHot

Perhaps. It’s in the compost heap now, but if you’ve got a positive review for it, I’d love to read it!

TeaEarleGreyHot

Ooos, I now see that you already added one! Not sure that I want a mouth full of the dusty Himalayas :-)

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85
24 tasting notes

I brewed this tea gong fu style as I do for most teas.
The steamed leaves have a very intense aroma of Yew Wood which acquires a shroomy and honey like aroma when washed. I had to wash this tea twice, one short and one long, before I felt confident that it had opened.
The liquor itself is a very gentle one with a more oak-like flavor and hints of moss with a dusty mouthfeel. You can really taste the age and the dusty dry air of the Himalayas.
Also, whoever tasted stonefruit in this tea is tweaking! There are no fruit notes in it AT ALL!

Flavors: Dust, Honeysuckle, Moss, Mushrooms, Sawdust, Wood, Woody

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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80
135 tasting notes

This took a long rinse and two (very hot) steeps to fully ‘open.’ Once it did, it was mild and warming, not too funky at all, and overall a very gentle tea. I enjoyed it. The age of the tea was definitely detectable.

Flavors: Dust, Earth, Forest Floor, Honey, Leather

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 3 g 2 OZ / 55 ML

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485 tasting notes

I tried this one out today and was not a huge fan. Used 7g in a 120mL gaiwan with boiled water. The compression was quite tight. After two rinses, I tried to start with a 15s steep, and the compressed chunks just laughed at me in the gaiwan. So from then, I altered my strategy, steeping 1m+ and bludgeoning the stubborn chunks with my gaiwan lid. It barely worked, so after three steeps like that, I started spearing the still-chuckling pieces with my puer pick, getting them to mostly come apart. I’m pretty sure even then, they were still flinging tiny middle-fingers at me.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was unable to get any strong flavor from this S.O.B. The aroma of the wet leaves was pretty reminiscent of a dank basement, usually not a good sign for me. I did get a decent bit of the wetness in the flavor of this tea. I also tasted some wet wood and something kind of fungal, maybe mushroomy. It did taste decently aged. Also got some kind of tangy sourness which I didn’t find particularly appealing.

So I think it’s safe to say I don’t like this tea gongfu. I still have the rest of my sample, so I’ll let it air out some and then play around with it. I will probably try to boil it instead, maybe that will allow me to actually draw out the flavor of this crotchety old brick. Now if I could just track down a yak….

Flavors: Mushrooms, Musty, Tangy, Wet Moss

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 30 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
tanluwils

Kang bricks are definitely rough and tumble teas, originally drank by nomads of the steppe and Tibetan plateau. Boiling it will bring out more interesting flavors and a nicer body.

Matu

Yup, that’s the plan! I’m waiting for winter and colder temps, because I feel like that’ll be nicer accompanied by the cold.

tanluwils

My wife and i were drinking some this morning. I still used my yixing, but poured boiling water this time. I found the tea revealed a mineral sweetness after the 4th steep.

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85
98 tasting notes

This one has grown on me. I didn’t expect to like it so much, but it’s a pleasant and palatable tea. May actually buy a brick of this one.

Flavors: Pecan, Plum, Raisins

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 45 sec 8 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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72
338 tasting notes

Award for the ‘Most autumn pile/forest floor looking tea’ goes to this one.

I listened to other reviews and have had it airing out for a long time. I tried it at 1/2/4/7/10m with a hefty chunk in my gaiwan & there was a definite aged flavour, some humid storage taste & some odd fruit I cant put my finger on what it is. Oh, and autumn pile/forest floor. Also a tangy taste that was interesting..

The body and mouthfeels werent thick or heavy, there was a very very slight mouth cooling. Whatever the headfeels/qi was, it was nice. I felt nice and relaxed

For some reason my brain kept thinking this is the sort of tea you give actors in films like LoTR when you want them to get into role properly as a druid.

But while the taste wasnt something amazing (have been drinking some 10+years Mengku also today & this is a bit bland compared) I enjoyed the session. There was an odd complexity to the tang & aged taste. You seriously need to steep it for ages to get the flavour to be strong.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Fruity, Tangy, Wet Wood

Cwyn

This tea is meant to be boiled, as it is so in Tibet. I have this same brick from another vendor and mine produces so much heat in my body I can hardly stand it. Definitely a tea for harsh and cold weather for me!

Matu

Those are some long steep times! I’m glad my 25g sample is enough to try a buncha different stuff with it, including boiling and doing long steeps.

Rasseru

@cwyn I was going to say this needs to be boiled somehow to get the most out of it, I honestly thought that yesterday.

tanluwils

I don’t have this exact tea, so I cannot speak to it, but you described it the same way I would the 2003 Tibetan Kang brick I purchased from Taobao. These peaty, forest-flavored teas, not flowery oolongs, were what lead me to raw pu’er. After noticing that cooling sensation for the first time tonight, I saw your description and wondered what the cause of the cooling could be.

Rasseru

I’m under the impression that camphor is a terpenoid, and tea does contain these compounds. So it may well be of a similar structure

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50
673 tasting notes

this was an ok tea, not the best though

1st steep 20s: some sweetness needs longer steep (wasn’t sure if I needed to rinse it first)

2nd steep (best) 40s: tangy and sweet similar to really old puehr

3rd (final) steep 1 min: same as steep 2

when I smell the leaves dry they smell musty

when I smell the leaves wet they smell like the forest floor

I will find this tea a new home someday as I have too much to mail out atm

Flavors: Forest Floor, Sweet, Tangy

Preparation
Boiling 5 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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