Our Xiang Zhu Lin Gu Shu Dan Zhu (\u9999\u7af9\u6797\u53e4\u6811\u5355\u682a) is a sheng pu-erh cake that comes from Xiangzhulin Village located high up in the mountains of Gengma Dai and Va Autonomous County in Lincang, Yunnan Province. The small 100g cakes are picked only from single ancient 500 year old trees growing wild at an altitide of 1,900-2,200 metres. This particular production is from March 2019. These cakes can be enjoyed straight away but will definitely benefit from longer ageing.<\/p>\n
Xiangzhulin (\u9999\u7af9\u6797) is a small village located high up in the mountainous Gengma county in Yunnan Province. The name of the village literally translates as Fragrant Bamboo Forest. There are thousands of ancient pu-erh trees growing wild around this area. This particular tea is marked on the wrapper as Gu Shu Dan Zhu (\u53e4\u6811\u5355\u682a), literally translating as Ancient Tree Single Bush. This refers to the practice of using leaves from only one tree in one batch of pu-erh. For this limited production, three trees of approximately 500 years old were selected, making just 30kg of tea. The leaves are harvested by hand from fully grown trees by the local Lahu Minority people. The selection of single trees results in a distinctive character that is completely inimitable. The selected trees grow completely wild (referred to as Ye Fang \u91ce\u653e), without the use of fertilisers or other human interference.<\/p>\n
This Xiang Zhu Lin Gu Shu Dan Zhu raw pu-erh comes pressed in small 100g cakes. It produces a light bronze liquor that has a smooth, thick, mouth-coating quality. This tea displays really beautiful Cha Qi, even though it is still very, very young for a sheng pu-erh. The quality of the source material is immediately evident as, even though it is lacking in age, the flavours are already very complex and multi-layered. The character is herbaceous with notes of green florals, green wood, unripe fruits and scent of hay. There is a good level of sophisticated dry astringency present that is especially evident on the mouthwatering and long-lasting aftertaste. This tea can be drunk now but further ageing will improve the complexity of flavours and mellow out and diminish some of the harsher aspects.<\/p>\n
We suggest brewing parameters of 90-98\u00b0C for 3-5 minutes according to your taste, brewing multiple times. Prise off a required amount of leaves with a sharp knife or pu-erh knife and brew multiple times. Categorically, for best results brew Gong Fu style, using 5g per 100ml in a good traditional clay pot. When brewed Gong Fu style we suggest briefly washing the leaves and then following with multiple short infusions.<\/p>\n