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2019 Yunnan Sourcing "Ai Lao Secret Garden" Old Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

2019 Yunnan Sourcing "Ai Lao Secret Garden" Old Arbor Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

by Yunnan Sourcing Brand Pu-erh
$19.00 - $152.00
$19.00
$19.00 - $152.00
$19.00

Entirely first flush of Spring 2019 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.

 

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

38kg in total produced

Wrapper Illustration by Giovanni Crispino
 

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 Spring 2018 Yunnan Sourcing "Ai Lao Secret Garden" in this video: 

Overall rating: 4.3333335 / 5 from 9 reviews.

AI Generated Review Summary

Summary topics

Review topics: ["aroma","body","tea","leaves"].

Review highlights

Reviews

Young heart

"The pretty leaves will quickly mesmerize you, while you get your water boiled, which is really needed to get the essences out of this tea. Watch your moves, as it quickly gets tangy bitter if you leave the first steeps too long. With care you get a few fruity potions out of this tea with the rushy feeling of young raws, but not more. Perhaps with aging it will calm down, but I probably won't wait for that and enjoy it as it is."

— Viktor J. (3/5)

Best of 2019

"This hands down the best raw I have from 2019. I find my self making excuses to take it out for every possible occasion. The moment I had my first cup I ordered a second cake and coming to the end of my first cake am thinking of getting me a 3rd one so I can properly age one. Cuz I know my self before long I'm going to be breaking in that second one. Even though I intend to use the second one to age... Realy I could drink this one for the rest of the days and die a happy life. Taste notes: Orchid, hazelnoot, ginger, spring flower honey, wood, raisen Just a minute bitter tone to carry the taste for hours to come."

— LukasD (5/5)

Ai Lao Beauty

"Here are my notes: leaf, Chi behind the musty leaf. I can sometimes get chi energy from the smell and proximity to the leaves before I even consume the tea. this was the case. Orchard tree sap, white leaf, glossy broth. 2nd Nutty slippery, semi-thick. 3rd teeth numbing, active return. 4th thick-yiwu-stem-like. 5th pleasant aspirin powder pill, vegetal cabbage. 6th chi calm, burnt sugar, floral marshmallow coating. 7th fermented alcoholic."

— Kameron S. (5/5)

Potent, flavorful and stimulating!

"Potent, flavorful and stimulating! So many oily layers in the mouth and bubbly cha qi. Pre-workout tea for me."

— Jessie D. (5/5)

Average

"Bought a sample based on the video and good reviews. Not sweet and slightly bitter but tasted clean tolerable. Some Cha Qi. I wouldn't call it the best but not the worse. Average clean tea."

— Vu N. (3/5)

Clean Cha Qi and a nice sweet body

"Really light and sweet tasting. The cake is perfectly pressed and leaves are large and thick."

— Shray P. (5/5)

A very fragrant tea

"I bought this year's tea because of great review from the past version and also because this is my first puerh from this region. It is a very fragrant tea though it is still young. My guess is that the tea will smoothen out in a few years time."

— Simon S. (4/5)

Raising the bar

"I've just received and moved through a half dozen samples in mini sessions using a 60ml gaiwan, culminating with the Ai Lao. This was head and shoulders above the rest. Starting with the pungent, fruity, sweet dry aroma, I was excited to get water on these even after 5 sessions with other teas before it. 20s rinse started things off, already demonstrating vegetal sweetness with a tinge of supporting astringency. I experimented with various steep times, but the tea was very stable in letting me know not to rush too fast - these leaves have a lot to give and do not need to be pushed. 13, 22, 24, 36 (too much), 30 (better), 26 (best), 45 (too much again), 40 (still too much!). After 9 steeps, these still have more to give, but I needed to rest. The main characteristics of this material is a big, bright, sweet green with a 'hot (high pitched?)', supporting astringency that coats the mouth and throat, leaving a huge huigan in time that is still going through phases of sweet green, mineral and savory after 30 minutes. Standing up afterward, I really noticed the Qi. I guess this might be my first tea drunk feeling. A little woozy, but in a warm fuzzy way. I normally give teas a few sessions before reviewing, but noting how this stood out so poignantly in my session, it left no doubt to it's quality. For the young sheng lover, this is perfect already, but I can also see how over time, some of this high frequency power will fill out the low notes over time. Winner!"

— Kelly S. (5/5)

Respectable

"There were a lot of rave reviews about last year’s version of this tea so I gave this one a try. It is certainly a very good tea, though nothing stood out for me. A tasty young one."

— Richard D. (4/5)

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