Ai Lao Mountains Raw Puerh 2020
This fruity and distinctive compressed tea cake is produced from the leaves of half century old tea trees grown in the wilds of the Ai Lao mountains. You'll find notes of apricot, incense wood and a tangy, refreshing bite reminiscent of fruit peel. A great introduction to the raw puerh category.
1 cake: 100g
Ai Lao Mountains Raw Puerh 2020
In the wilderness of the Ai Lao Mountains, surrounded on all sides by dense forest, lies Mrs Feng’s tea garden. Planted in the 1960’s, the tea bushes here have grown into large tea trees with thick, flavourful leaves used exclusively to produce puerh – the prized tea of Yunnan province. The leaves are fired by hand over a wood fire and sun-dried to ensure a mellow texture, before being stone-pressed into tea cakes. This is a traditional method, commonly used to store and age puerh tea. To make this tea, carefully prise apart some loose leaves from the cake and infuse them Gong Fu style to reveal the tea's engaging and zesty flavour.
- Cultivar - Camellia sinensis var. assamica 'Da Ye Zhong'
- Picked - Spring 2020
- Oxidisation level - 5%
Tasting notes
What to Look For
Long mottled green leaves layered with flashes of silvery buds compresed into a small disc.
Aroma
Rich and warming aromas of grapefruit, incense wood and a subtle spice.
In the Cup
A golden yellow infusion with a greenish tint.
Taste
Distinctive notes of dried apricot with a light citrus peel bitterness and a long lasting taste of mineral-rock in the finish.
Origin
- Cultivar - Camellia sinensis var. assamica 'Da Ye Zhong'
- Picked - Spring 2020
- Oxidisation level - 5%
Origin
Tasting notes
What to Look For
Long mottled green leaves layered with flashes of silvery buds compresed into a small disc.
Aroma
Rich and warming aromas of grapefruit, incense wood and a subtle spice.
In the Cup
A golden yellow infusion with a greenish tint.
Taste
Distinctive notes of dried apricot with a light citrus peel bitterness and a long lasting taste of mineral-rock in the finish.
The perfect cup
- Measure 6g or 1tbsp per 125ml
- Heat water to 100°C
- Infuse tea for 40 seconds for the 1st infusion,
20 seconds for the 2nd, then add 10 seconds
incrementally for each subsequent infusion. - You can re-infuse this tea up to 7 times
- "Let them eat cake"How many out there have had a cake of tea? Not many I would wager. The taste is great, but to take note of the instructions.
7!! infusions from 1 teaspoon.
A tea addicts dream. - Perfect for agingFor some reason I kept coming back to this young one even after having up to 20 year old Ai Lao puers. The combination and balance of everything from taste to texture is just perfect. Got 10 more cakes for decade storage and 5 for consumption.
- MemorableOne of the most fragrant young puer I've ever tried. Memorable and keeps making me coming back for more. A must.
- Superb teaThis is the most delightful tea ever. Delicious deep flavour notes, yet also delicate and very fragrant. I will definitely be back for more
- Perfect Sunday Afternoon TeaThis puerh is rich and warming. Its subtle tobacco scent and rounded mouth feeling evokes memories of sitting by the fire at my grandparents house, reading The Hobbit!
Knowing that this tea has numerous health benefits in addition to its superb flavour, adds to the experience. Overall, its cosy and relaxed nature make it the perfect Sunday afternoon tea! - Unbelievable Smooth Texture and BalanceHad a quick first session with this tea last night - I brewed it pretty soft and was greeted with an absolutely gorgeous texture. Oily and smooth, medium body and viscous. The kind of sip that you can't help but roll around in your mouth. The taste on first infusion was like drinking morning mountain fog. Slowly opening and I can tell this tea will keep going for many infusions.
The dry leaf smell was thick, deep, and sweet - a smell that I associated with melted caramel. The wet leaf was baked pear skin, sweet peas, and a grassy sweetness. I brewed the 4th infusion much harder and really got that grapefruit zest astringency.
Above all, the whole experience with this tea was fantastic. Nicely pressed cake, beautiful color variation in the leaf, texture is to die for, and taste is very mature/adult. This tea is easy to control and you can certainly showcase many different flavor profiles but varying your approach - water temp, leaf amount, brewing vessel, brew time..
I used 5g leaf in a small 85ml mutton fat jade porcelain teapot. 1st infusion was 15 seconds and I added 5 seconds each time.
