Da Xue Shan 2003 Sheng Pu'er

General

Lincang Prefecture is located north of the two other major pu'er tea producing areas, Pu'er and Xishuangbanna. Although Lincang produces large quantities of pu'er tea and also the Yunnan black tea Dian Hong, it is still a border region in terms of pu'er tea geography. Pu'ers from the Lincang region are often fruitier in tone than teas from Xishuangbanna, for example. In addition to fruitiness, these teas also have woody, mineral and grassy tones. The tones are lighter than average, but many of the pu'ers from Lincang are still very powerful.

This pu'er tea is produced in the western part of Lincang Prefecture in a county called Zhengkang, which is located against the Burmese border. The county is not as well known for its tea as Yongde County, which is located directly to the east. However, tea has been produced in Zhengkang since the Ming Dynasty several centuries ago. Over 80% of the tea in the county consists of old tea trees.

This tea

This tea is a 2003 harvest from Da Xue Shan, or Great Snow Mountain, in Lincang Prefecture, Yunnan. The tea is produced from mountain tea trees. The cake is larger than normal at 500g in mass. A fully grown leaf of a wild tea tree is placed on the cake as a decoration. The leaf material is a good mix of large leaves and buds. The tea is 20 years old and has a fresh scent and flavor. The aging conditions have been quite dry; but not too dry. The floral tones of the new tea are still slightly in the taste and smell in the tea, but it has changed to a woody resinous direction. This is a rare example of a modern style single origin old tree sheng pu'er, which was produced 20 years ago. A beautiful and great tea!

Taste

The dry tea has a stunning lively sweet woody and slightly resinous smoky aroma. The taste is florally lively, but in the background the tea is developed in a woody direction. The tea does not have the vegetal tones of a young sheng pu'er, but the floral features have been preserved and are framed by more woody, robust tones. The flavor development is stable and the aftertaste is long and beautiful.

Infusion

Detach the leaves from the cake with a sharp tool for infusion. You can use a kitchen knife, for example. A spike-like shape works best, as it breaks the leaves less. Boiled water is used to brew Pu'er tea. You need about 3-5 grams of leaves, or a generous tablespoon of loose tea. The tea can be infused in a so-called with the gongfu technique, using a teapot of less than 300ml and steeping the leaves several times. In this case, the length of the steeping should be about 30-60 seconds. The amount of leaves can also be increased, in which case the steeping time can be reduced to 10-20 seconds. If you are using a larger teapot or want to make only one brew, the steeping time should be 3-5 minutes. Adjust the amount of leaves to achieve the desired strength