Video: Unwrapping and breaking down
Heritage & Aging
Origin: Yi Bang sub-region, Yi Wu Mountains
Press: Traditional stone-mold, intentionally loose for accelerated, even maturation
Leaf & Character
Dry Cake: Neatly rounded, dark walnut-brown threads; hallmark “Mao Er Duo” (Cat’s Ear) petite leaves unique to Yi Bang.
Cha Qi: Potent yet gentle, inducing relaxed “tea drunkenness” far more readily than bolder Meng Hai profiles.
Storage Store in a breathable pouch or original wrapper, away from odors. Continues to refine gracefully with clean, moderate humidity.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2004 · Sheng (raw) puerh · 400g cake · ChangTai Tea Factory
Liquor: Brilliant, clear amber with radiant clarity.
Palate: Velvety mellow, layered with aged woody elegance; bitterness and astringency whisper-soft.
Signature: Swift hui gan (returning sweetness), abundant salivary flow, and a vibrant, soothing depth that dances across the tongue.
Brewing Guide
Tip: Early steeps reveal floral-woody brightness; mid-to-late uncover chen xiang (aged fragrance) and throat-coating sweetness. The loose press yields fast-evolving infusions—taste the transformation.
Best for: A Connoisseur’s Milestone An exemplary aged Yi Wu—refined, resonant, and endlessly rewarding—ideal for elevating any puerh journey.
Brewing Guide
Water: fully boiling, 100°C (212°F).
- 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.
Clean, dry Guangzhou natural conditions since 2004
A Note on Appearance
Not every cake shows these, but they can occur, especially in teas with more years of storage.
- Bamboo powder (zhu fen): a natural sign of traditional bamboo-husk packing. In Guangdong's warm, humid climate, tiny bamboo insects can make their home in the husk, nibbling the husk and cotton paper wrapper while leaving the tea itself untouched. What they leave behind is a fine powder, seen only on certain teas and more often on aged ones. It is harmless to hygiene; a few strokes with a clean toothbrush or soft brush before brewing is all it takes.
- 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.
