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“Brewed in a tiny gaiwan and filtered thru a sieve. Some steeps were cold brewed as I went about my day. All in all, what you would expect from a rough chunk of wilder yiwu. The broth is robust and...” Read full tasting note
“It’s rather hot here today, so sheng is called for and this was the sample that came first out of the tin. This is the last of the samples I bought from Yunnan Sourcing, so I can move on to my...” Read full tasting note
This is the third cake in our “Road to Yi Wu” (易武之道) series of cakes. We have selected fall harvest (谷花茶) wild arbor material from the area of “Man Zhuan” (蛮砖), a higher mountain areas in the Yi Wu mountain. Man Zhuan area teas are known for their special thick aroma and a taste that with age becomes stronger and more textured. This tea comes from wild arbor trees between 200 and 300 years old growing on a sunny south facing slope.
When brewing the tea you will notice the tea soup is a bright yellow-gold and clear, the aroma is penetrating and the tea is full in the mouth. The flavor is textured and thick with a strong almost chocolate-like after-taste . This is one of the more smooth and aromatic of the Yi Wu area teas. The brewed leaves are thick and stout attesting to their wild arbor origin.
This tea was compressed in a small tea factory near Kunming where stone presses were used. Low temperature “baking” was used to dry these cakes after the compression process thus preserving their integrity! In total just 40 kilograms of this tea has been produced. We have delayed sales of this cake for a 2 weeks to allow the water vapor from pressing to dissipate. Further aging will only improve this wonderful tea!
Net Weight: 357 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong)
Compression date: October 26th, 2009
Harvest time: October 2009
Harvest Area: Man Zhuan mountain, Yi Wu mountain range, Meng La county of Xi Shuang Banna
Total Production amount: 112 cakes
Company description not available.
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Yunnan SourcingBrewed in a tiny gaiwan and filtered thru a sieve. Some steeps were cold brewed as I went about my day. All in all, what you would expect from a rough chunk of wilder yiwu. The broth is robust and oily. SD made me feel imposter’s syndrome as an enlightened monk. This one makes me feel like a car mechanic with grime stains all over my jeans. There is that familiar returning sweetness. It gives me a low key headache, possibly from the caffeine. The tea is very strong. It may even benefit from a lower leaf concentration per cup.
It’s rather hot here today, so sheng is called for and this was the sample that came first out of the tin. This is the last of the samples I bought from Yunnan Sourcing, so I can move on to my remaining Zhi Zheng and White2tea samples next.
This tea has not been heavily compressed and is easily pulled apart by hand. The leaves are large and have a lovely silvery furriness to them.
The dry leaf has a light hay and tropical garden aroma. It is heavy without being excessively floral. By way of contrast, the wet leaf smells more of grapes or something vegetal. The liquor surprises with its caramel and chocolate aroma.
The tea carries the chocolate notes through to the tasting and adds nuttiness and some grassy notes. There is a hint of bitterness that develops at the end of the tasting and into the aftertaste which adds a small amount of astringency that develops slowly while the tea pops on the tongue like space dust. The mouthfeel is rounded like a boiled sweet. There seems to be a lot going on with this tea and it becomes smoother with less bitterness developing as the steeps go on. I’m on my 8th steep now and am very happy with this one. I am glad that I have tried it, but I do have to query the price. I am not certain that it provides value for money, but perhaps the tea will age in interesting ways that justify that price tag.
Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Hay, Nutty
