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Jing Gu - Zao Chun Hao Jian — “early spring bud tips” — is ShouYe’s Jinggu brick, pressed from the buds of arbor-type tea trees on Jinggu’s local ancient tea mountains, gathered in early spring and made from refined Yunnan puerh tea, steam-pressed into shape. The brick has a practical history behind it: this tea was once kneaded by hand into a heart shape with a handle, and the form was changed to a flat brick when production moved to machines.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2005 · Sheng (raw) puerh · 250g brick · early spring buds · ShouYe
- Compression & dry leaf: A firm, steam-pressed brick. The surface shows clear bud tips from the early spring picking — slender, downy buds from arbor trees.
- Liquor: Orange-yellow in the cup.
- Taste: Mellow and smooth, with the aged character of a 2005 sheng. The bitterness is barely noticeable, the astringency sits at a medium level, and the flavor keeps varying from steep to steep rather than staying in one place.
- Mouthfeel & body: Soothing and pleasing in the mouth, easy to drink.
- Aftertaste: Good Hui Gan (returning sweetness), with a lingering sweet finish.
- Best for: Drinkers looking to improve their tea experience — an aged Jinggu brick with twenty years behind it, and a taste of how this tea was made before the brick form became standard.
Brewing Guide
- Water: fully boiling, 100°C (212°F).
- Steps:
- Warm the pot and cups, then add about 5g of leaf per 100ml.
- Rinse the leaves once with boiling water and let them rest, covered, for about 10 minutes.
- Steep the first rounds for 10–15 seconds, adding about 5 seconds with each round.
- Pour every steep into a fairness pitcher before serving.
- Serve. Sheng puerh resteeps well for many rounds.
- Treat these as starting points rather than fixed rules. Try high or low pours, fast or slow, and brew in different seasons to find the method that suits you. Brewing the same tea well in any year, season, weather or place takes practice, and that skill is the real goal.
Storage
Keep the tea ventilated, cool and dry, away from sunlight and strong odors (kitchen spices, smoke). For long-term aging, paper or clay containers breathe better than sealed plastic. This brick has been kept in dry storage, which preserves a cleaner, brighter character.
A Note on Appearance
Not every brick shows these, but they can occur, especially in teas with more years of storage.
- Small dark specks: on naturally stored puerh, tiny dark specks can show up on the wrapper or around the edges of the brick. They are harmless — just brush them off before brewing.
- Tea oil spots: yellowish spots may appear and can come from natural tea oils. They are not a flaw.
- Torn wrapper: small tears or holes in the cotton paper may happen during storage and handling. The tea inside is unaffected.
