Ju You 2015 Guafengzhai Gu Shu Cha

General

Yiwu Tea Production Area is one of the most important pu'er tea production areas in Yunnan. The area has about 10 square kilometers of land under tea production. The elevation in this area varies from 800 to 2000 meters. The name Yiwu refers to both the entire mountain range and the village in the area. Although often referred to as Yiwu Mountain, the area is actually a mountainous area with several peaks and villages, whose tea is often referred to by their own names. The most important villages, in addition to the central village of Yiwu, are Mahei, Luo Shui Dong and Man Xiu. These are mainly inhabited by the Han Chinese, the most common ethnic group in China. The Han Chinese arrived in Yiwu at the end of the Qing Dynasty and started tea production as a business. At that time, tea had already been produced in Yiwu for several hundred years by the local Bulang minority. The outer villages are more difficult to reach and are inhabited by smaller ethnic groups in China. Such villages include Ding Jia Zhai and Gua Feng Zhai. What is common to the tea from different villages in Yiwu is a soft, hearty and charming taste and quality, and activity in the mouth. Yiwu tea is valued because of these characteristics.

Ju You is a small pu'er producer whose tea selection mainly covers tea varieties from the Yiwu tea production area. In the late 20th century, the factory operated as a local production plant of the state-owned pu'er tea producing company CNNP, which mainly processed tea from the Yiwu area. The company now operates as a private company. The producer is one of our favorites, as all the cakes pressed by the producer show exceptionally high quality workmanship. The leaf material is largely intact and the traditional stone-pressed cakes are pressed with just the right amount of force so that the tea can be easily separated from the cake without using too much force. In addition, the producer is very good at sourcing tea leaf material. Tea grown outside Yiwu is also of high quality. The producer's long experience and contacts are behind all this.

The name of Guafeng Village (Guafengzhai) means windy village. It is one of the outermost villages in the Yiwu area. The only access to the village is by an unpaved road, which isolates the village, especially in rainy weather, when the road becomes muddy. There are about 100 households in Guafengzhai and most of the residents belong to the Yao minority. The border to Laos is only a 30-minute walk away. Many young tea trees have been planted in the village area. Older trees are located outside the village, a few hours' walk away. This complicates tea production, as it is difficult to process tea in the middle of the rainforest, but transporting unprocessed tea degrades the quality of the finished tea. The value of Guafengzhai tea has increased greatly during this millennium and the village's tea is now among the most valued in the Yiwu region.

This tea

This tea is from the spring harvest of 2015. It is produced by a small pu'er tea producer called Ju You, who specializes in tea in the Yiwu region.

According to the producer, this cake is produced from tea trees with a trunk diameter of at least 40cm. It is pressed in the traditional style using a heavy press. This makes it quite easy to separate the leaves without breaking them. The leaves are large, as is typical of Yiwu teas.

Taste

The aroma of the dry tea is a delicious blend of fresh and dry wood, as well as a woody and slightly aromatic bay leaf-like scent. The aroma of the brewed tea is toasty and hearty woody. The taste is slightly fresh woody, toasty, mineral and vegetal in its own way. The taste lingers in the mouth for a long time. The tea has a clear kuwei - a pleasant bitterness felt in the back of the mouth that slowly sweetens in the aftertaste. A fine young pu'er, from which the youngest flavors are already disappearing and are being replaced by the flavors of a middle-aged pu'er.

Infusion

Infusion

The leaves need to be detached from the pressed tea with a sharp tool for brewing. You can use a table knife, for example. The spike-like shape works best, as it breaks the leaves less. Pu'er tea is brewed with boiled water. You need about 3-5 grams of leaves, or a generous tablespoon of loose tea. The tea leaves are rinsed first. Hot water is poured over the tea leaves and allowed to brew for about 10 seconds. This rinsing water is poured off. This rinsing helps to make the tea clear and reduces the stronger fermentation taste and smell on the surface of the leaves. The tea can be infused with so-called gongfu technique, using a teapot of less than 300ml and infusing the leaves several times. In this case, the length of the steeping should be about 30-60 seconds. The number 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 infusion, the steeping time should be 3-5 minutes. Adjust the amount of leaves to achieve the desired strength.