This Organic Puer Shu (cooked) Ancient Tree Big Leaf tea is sourced from ancient trees in Yunnan, about 150-300 years old and grown at an altitude of 2100 m, with hand-harvesting taking place between the months of April and September.
It is a fully fermented puer tea with a deep red liquor, giving off a sweet flavor similar to that of Chinese dates. The taste is soft and delicate, contrasting sharply with its rich and lingering aftertaste on the palate.
It is certainly a complex tea whose wide aromatic range is determined by the age of the trees from which it originates, whose very deep roots have over the centuries gathered all the flavors of the mountains on which they were born and grew.
Tasting - Sight and Smell
The Puer Shu Organic Ancient Tree Big Leaf tea has leaves whose hue ranges from light brown, sienna to brown, with a dull, vaguely dusty surface typical of puer shu. The leaves are large, folded in on themselves and rolled rather tightly. Once infused, they give off a lot of aromas: damp earth, wet wood, fennel, fresh mushrooms, a hint of leather and a hint of sweet tobacco. The liquor is clear and very bright, ranging in color from burnt orange in the first infusion to a dark red veering to burgundy in the last.
Tasting Notes
In the opening, the Puer Shu Organic Ancient Tree Big Leaf tea is sweet and delicate with notes of licorice and leather and a balsamic and fresh hint traceable to fennel. proceeding through the infusions, we find more enveloping and intense flavors of burnt wood and bark, tobacco and damp earth. A pleasant bitter note reminiscent of dark chocolate also appears on the finish, perfectly balanced with the ever-present sweet component and a good minerality. The body is smooth and enveloping, with good density; the persistence is long and empyreumatic.
Location of origin
Yunnan, China
Preparation
We strongly recommend infusing Organic Puer Shu Ancient Tree Big Leaf tea in the traditional Chinese method (gong fu cha) to enjoy these leaves at their best. By following this preparation, 3 grams of leaves (about 2 teaspoons) can be used in a gaiwan of about 150 ml to obtain multiple infusions with different tastes.
After a quick rinse of the leaves in water at 95°C, an initial infusion of 15 seconds can be made and, keeping the water at the same temperature, the time can be increased each time by 5 seconds from the previous infusion (15 - 20 - 25...).
This tea has a longevity of about 7 infusions.
For a classic preparation according to the Western style, we recommend 3 grams of leaves in a 200 ml cup with water at 95°C for an infusion time of 3 minutes.
The tea can be filtered for ease when tasting and also the infusion times given here above are meant to be purely indicative so you can also adjust according to your personal taste.
It is recommended to be stored in a cool and dry place away from direct sunlight.
