2016 Yunnan Sourcing "Guo You Lin" Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

Guo You Lin 国有林 (lit. State Protected Forest) is a small area between Yi Wu town and Mengla town in the Yi Wu Mountains at an elevation of 1650 meters that is protected forest and is an animal reserve. In the early 1990's there was a small village in the forest, but were made to leave by the government when they set up the protected forest resevere there. As part of the relocation deal the Mengla County government made a deal with local villagers allowing them to pick tea twice a year for 10 days each harvest. The rest of the year tea cannot be picked. No roads in or out of this area. Very biologically diverse with lots of plants and animals, not to mention old tea trees growing naturally. Our offering is an Autumn Harvest pick, the spring tea of this year was very good but astronomically expensive. Don't think for a second that this Autumn tea is lacking! It's very powerful both in taste and cha qi. There is a deep and complex "yun wei" and the tea seems to take on a life of it's own in the mouth and throat. This is an incredibly unique large leaf style assamica tea that will impress even the most discriminating sheng aficionado! This tea was compressed in a small tea factory in Yi Wu town where unusually large 40 kilogam stone presses were used. Low temperature (35C) “baking” was used to dry these cakes after the compression process thus preserving their integrity! We have delayed sales of this cake for more than 4 weeks to allow the water vapor from pressing to dissipate. Further aging will only improve this wonderful tea! Just 10 kilos in total produced! 250 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo tong) 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 .