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2014 Yunnan Sourcing Menghai Lao Cha Tou Ripe Pu-erh tea brick | Yunnan Sourcing Tea Shop

2014 Yunnan Sourcing Menghai Lao Cha Tou Ripe Pu-erh tea brick

by Yunnan Sourcing Brand Pu-erh
$11.25 - $69.00
$11.25
$11.25 - $69.00
$11.25

Cha Tou is a kind of tea nugget that forms naturally from the pressures of compression and heat that occurs during the fermentation process. Typically during fermentation process to make ripe pu-erh there is a pile of tea about 1 meter high. It is kept wet to allow the fermentation process and the pile is turned every few days to allow for an even degree of fermentation, moving the tea from the bottom of the pile (where it is hotter and wetter) to the top of the pile where it is cooler and drier. The "cha tou" are the leaves that ball up and get stuck together. The best cha tou are ones that have not been over-fermented and are smaller in size. 

Lao Cha Tou brick is composed entirely of Menghai area material.  Our 2014 production is made from expertly fermented Menghai are ripe tea in a Menghai tea factory under the supervision of Master Li.  The cha tou brewed gives a smooth taste and a lingering mouth-feel and cha qi.  An excellent ripe tea that can be brewed 15 to 20 times.  

This tea has been tested in a certified laboratory for 42 pesticides, and is within the EU MRL limits set for those 42 pesticide residues. For a full list of the 42 pesticides we tested for and more information about MRL testing and the EU Food and Safety commission click on this link.

 

200 kilos in total were produced.

Net Weight: 250 grams per brick

Fermentation time: 2013

Harvest Area: Menghai County of Xishuangbanna

Overall rating: 4.0 / 5 from 3 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

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Review topics: ["taste","smell","tea","notes"].

Review highlights

Reviews

A Walk in the Forest

"Nose: Dry: Earthy, reminiscent of rain in forest. Some sort of berry. I can almost feel the humidity in the air on a cool, rainy spring day in the forest. After 1st wash: Almost a sweetness, like dried clover hay. No wet piling scent, though I tend to like a little bit of that funkiness. Tasting notes 1st steep: 5 seconds. Dark brew, though that could be due to the leaf dust from initially breaking into the cake. Very smooth, coffee like astringency on the finish. There is a richer fruity flavor trying to come through, I imagine it will present itself of the subsequent brews 2nd steep: 5 seconds. Leaves greatly increased in size. Brick opens up very quickly after brewing. Beginning to take on that oily property where tea almost wicks up the gaiwan after pouring. Smell is more reminiscent of berry now. It gives me the image of being near a blueberry bush while hay is made in a nearby field. Taste is hard to describe. It is thick like your typical Shou but there is a space where you almost expect an acidity to be, but there is none, only a richness. I think this is the fruity flavor I was describing. 3rd steep: 10 seconds. Nose is very similar with maybe a hint of molasses coming through. There is an “oily” mineral layer on top of the glass, similar to coffee. Very ripe blueberries on the palate, bordering on overripe. This is probably a mixture of the tea’s natural character and the fermentation process. Lingering sweetness on the tongue. 4th steep: 10-15 seconds. Little bit of leather on the nose. Tea is a thick red, almost black. Heavy minerality on this steep. I also notice a warming sensation in the body at this point. Aftertaste reminiscent of cinnamon with a hint of white pepper. 5th steep: 10-15 seconds. Leather and minerality still strong. That cinnamon note is more prevalent now, while still maintaining that clover sweetness that was noted in the beginning. The coffee-like astringency from the 1st through 3rd steeps has dissipated, leaving a warm finish that slowly fades over the next 2-3 minutes. 6th steep: 20 seconds. Leather notes on the nose have evolved to a woody note. Another commenter got notes of “boozy bourbon barrel”. While I don’t notice the booze aspect, I do notice the oak-like note of an unused bourbon barrel. This note is also present in a sawmill cutting fresh White Oak. 7th steep: 30 seconds. Woody and hay notes on the nose persist. The tea is beginning to lighten at this point, roughly 15 oz of tea has been brewed. That cinnamon aftertaste is very prevalent. 8th steep: 60 seconds. Still very little astringency even after a minute of brew time at ~200 °F. This could be a very suitable tea for thermos brewing if that is your style. There is a lingering minerality on the finish 9th steep: 90 seconds. The clover/hay scent is largely dissipated at this point, leaving behind only the woody notes. Maybe a hint of leather. 10th steep: 3 minutes. Nose is getting lighter, leaving only the faint smell of wet tea leaves. We have exited the forest. Number of steeps: 10 Buy again: Yes Overall score: 4 out of 5 Overall this was a great cake at a bargain price point. It takes you on a complex walk through a rainy forest, with a quick stop at the hay fields and blueberry patch. It is very resistant to overbrewing or becoming astringent. The dry cake is fairly difficult to break apart. I found the process of breaking off a brewable chunk to be an exercise in patience, which maybe we can all benefit from. You could continue brewing past the 10th steep, but from my experience the tea has largely given you what it has to give at this point. This is a very approachable Shou experience."

— Chase H. (4/5)

Great Intro into Cha Tou

"Brewed gongfu style. Minimal wet pile / fermentation smells noted. After two quick rinses, the tea gradually opened up over subsequent steepings. Notes of camphor, wood, and cherries. Tea is quite robust and endures multiple infusions before washing out."

— Steven V. (4/5)

My first Puerh

"I received a nice nugget of this as a free sample with the purchase of my Gaiwan. This was also my first introduction to Puerh. The tea soup was super thick blood red. Oily mouthfeel. Super strong and complex...very intriguing stuff. I picked up notes of leather, decaying wood turning into soil, cigar tobacco, strong camphor, boozy bourbon barrel (?!), and just the slightest sweetness from mineralic molasses. I lost count of how many infusions (it was a lot). This is something I would recommend after eating a light meal. The only drawback was a fairly prominent "Wo Dui" aroma. Thank you for the experience YS!"

— Will H. (4/5)

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