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2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Autumn Ai Lao Secret Garden" Old Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Autumn Ai Lao Secret Garden" Old Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

by Yunnan Sourcing Brand Pu-erh
Sold out
$19.00 - $213.75
$19.00
$19.00 - $213.75
$19.00

Entirely Autumn 2018 material from high altitude Ai Lao mountain.  The Ai Lao mountains peak out at about 3200 meters, making them second only to Wu Liang Shan as the highest mountains in Simao prefecture.   The Ai Lao mountain range is in the county of Jingdong which borders Chu Xiong prefecture.  This tea comes from old arbor tea trees growing in an undisclosed location (Secret Garden) in the Ai Lao mountain area at 2100 meters, making this some of the highest altitude pu-erh in existance.  Due to the high altitude most of the tea trees in this area are a naturally occurring hybrid of large and small leaf (sinensis and var. assamica).  The trees are healthy old trees growing naturally just below the peak of one of Ai Lao's many mountains.   Ai Lao tea gardens are arguably some of the remotest tea gardens in all of Yunnan.  Lack of roads and access has kept the environment of this area in pristine condition.

The tea itself is aromatic with hints of orchid aroma (兰香), and a strong mouth-feel.  The leaves are fatter and more burly than the Wu Liang tea. It features lots of hairy buds that make it somewhat resemble its close neighbor Jinggu mountain teas.  Honey and grass essences are present in this thick soupy tea!  Very sweet and full bodied tea that remains flavorful and complex for 10+ steeps.  "Secret Garden" is the most premium Ai Lao area tea that we have ever had the privilege to enjoy (or offer for sale)!

This tea was compressed in a small tea factory near Kunming where stone presses were used.  Low temperature “baking” was used to dry these cakes after the compression process thus preserving their integrity!  The cakes are wrapped and then bundled into bamboo leaf "tongs" with seven cakes per tong.

 

400 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong)

30kg in total produced

Wrapper Design by Lukasz Mikolajczyk

 

This tea has been tested in a certified laboratory for 191 pesticides, and is within the EU MRL limits set for those 191 pesticide residues. For a full list of the 191 pesticides we tested for and more information about MRL testing and the EU Food and Safety commission click on this link.

 

We drink the 2018 Spring "Ai Lao Secret Garden" in this video below!

Overall rating: 5.0 / 5 from 2 reviews.

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Review topics: ["bitterness","aroma","tea"].

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Reviews

Best tea I’ve ever had.

"Again. Hard to pick a favorite when their all so good."

— Devin (5/5)

Highly recommended if you don't mind lack of bitterness

"This is an awesome tea and is likely one of the best autumn Simao shengs you can come across. The only slight drawback is that I would prefer a more pungent bitterness in a young tea, but I am hoping the spring one from 2019 would fare better in that regard. Otherwise it is a very clean tasting tea, memorable with hard to describe flavours, complex aroma, and a very interesting mouthfeel. It also has a sort of comforting cha qi, a great one all across the board. I find this tea to be hard to overbrew, the bitterness and astringency intensify of course, but it remains very much drinkable and interesting even when pushed. The dry leaves smell very floral and sweet with hints of cauliflower, honey, and ginger cookies. In a preheated pot, the aroma reminds me of some cough syrup, and is quite unusual. Once wet, I detect various other aromas of peppercorn, fenugreek, mushrooms, and orchid. It is strong, floral and slightly earthy I’d say. Interestingly, there’s an additional scent I found when smelling the empty cup, which is that of incense. All in all, an explosion of aromas! The taste is grassy, sweet and floral with a muted bitterness and some tartness in the background. Flavour wise it reminds me of forest, hay and bay leaf, but I realize that doesn’t quite do the tea justice, I am just finding it hard to find the right words to describe it. The aftertaste is warming and dry, but not too astringent. It has a cinnamon spiciness and white grape tartness, both of which are fairly prominent. The flavour stays for a very long time and there is a strong hui gan as well. As for the mouthfeel, the tea is full bodied, slick, coating, and soft. I found it to be active and mouth-watering as well. Drinking it makes me feel relaxed and calm, there is no caffeine rush as far as I can tell. I recommend this tea very much!"

— Tomáš G. (5/5)

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