2009 Yunnan Sourcing * Road to Yi Wu "Man Zhuan" Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake

This is the third cake in our "Road to Yi Wu" (易武之道) series of cakes. We have selected fall harvest (谷花茶) wild arbor material from the area of "Man Zhuan" (蛮砖), a higher mountain areas in the Yi Wu mountain. Man Zhuan area teas are known for their special thick aroma and a taste that with age becomes stronger and more textured. This tea comes from wild arbor trees between 200 and 300 years old growing on a sunny south facing slope. When brewing the tea you will notice the tea soup is a bright yellow-gold and clear, the aroma is penetrating and the tea is full in the mouth. The flavor is textured and thick with a strong almost chocolate-like after-taste . This is one of the more smooth and aromatic of the Yi Wu area teas. The brewed leaves are thick and stout attesting to their wild arbor origin. 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! In total just 40 kilograms of this tea has been produced. We have delayed sales of this cake for a 2 weeks to allow the water vapor from pressing to dissipate. Further aging will only improve this wonderful tea! Net Weight: 357 grams per cake (7 cakes per bamboo leaf tong) Compression date: October 26th, 2009 Harvest time: October 2009 Harvest Area: Man Zhuan mountain, Yi Wu mountain range, Meng La county of Xi Shuang Banna Total Production amount: 112 cakes