Experience the exceptional 2014 BoYou "Xiang Yun" (Luckiness) Cake 357g Puerh Shou Cha Ripe Tea, a masterpiece that embodies the art of tea crafting.
This tea is particularly known for its harmonious balance, making it a delightful choice for daily consumption.
Tea Profile
At a glance: 2014 · Ripe (shou/shu) puerh · 357g cake · BoYou
This ripe puerh tea is a testament to meticulous selection and expert fermentation, resulting in a brew that is both rich and refined.
Sourced from carefully selected tea leaves, this cake is pressed into a neat, compact form, ensuring optimal aging and flavor development. The tea presents a deep, dark liquor with a remarkable clarity that reflects its superior quality.
Upon tasting, one is greeted with a smooth and mellow flavor profile, characterized by its thick and full-bodied texture. The taste is both rich and nuanced, offering layers of earthy and slightly sweet notes that are typical of well-fermented shou puerh.
The 2014 BoYou "Xiang Yun" cake is stored in pristine conditions, ensuring that its flavor and aroma have matured gracefully. The tea leaves' natural fermentation process is carefully monitored to enhance their inherent qualities, resulting in a brew that is both soothing and invigorating.
With each sip, the tea leaves a lingering, pleasant aftertaste, embodying the luck and fortune suggested by its name, "Xiang Yun." This tea is not just a beverage but an experience, offering a perfect blend of tradition, quality, and taste.
Best for: everyday drinking, and easy for beginners to brew.
Brewing Guide
Water: 100°C (212°F), fully boiling.
- Preheat the vessel; add around 5g per 100ml.
- Two quick rinses to wake the leaf, then a covered rest of about 10 minutes.
- Steep 10–15 seconds at first, adding ~5 seconds per round.
- Always pour out completely into a fairness cup before drinking.
- Keep steeping — ripe puerh rewards patience with many rounds.
These are guidelines to start from, not rules to obey. Experiment with your pour, your pace, and the season; the same leaf tastes different on a rainy day. The goal is the skill to brew it well whenever, wherever.
Storage
Give it air, coolness and dryness; keep it out of the sun and clear of potent odors (spices, smoke). For multi-year aging, paper or unglazed clay lets the tea breathe in a way sealed plastic never will.
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.
