2018 TIME TRAVELLER | ANCIENT TREE RED TEA CAKE

This is the tea cake version of our 2018 Time Traveller; you will find insane notes of stone fruit (like in its loose-leaf cousin) layered on rich aromas of plum flavoured pipe tobacco. Why on Earth these beautiful scents happen in the cake form... we don't know. Disclosure: we cried a little when we were learned that all supply of 2018 loose leaf Time Traveller has disappeared (or been happily consumed). But we smiled again when we were able to get hold of a few of these cakes. TYPE BLACK TEA ORIGIN Lincang, Yunnan GPS 23.7°N 99.9°E ALT. 2200M AUTHORS Gao Feng & Fan Xiuli LEAVES Ancient Tree TASTING NOTES Dried Apricots | Candied Crabapples | Maple Wood | Pipe Tobacco A Perspective on Time. Pu Er drinkers are familiar with leaves from ancient trees, often called ‘gushu’ (the Pinyin transliteration of 古樹, in simplified Chinese or 古樹 in traditional characters). While enjoying these teas, we sometimes lose perspective of just how old those trees are. Considering that throughout the lifetime of these trees, from back when they were saplings (long before the French Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution of the US) to now, the tea harvested could feasibly have been enjoyed by the likes of Napoleon, Washington, Marie Curie, Gandhi, or Serena Williams (assuming that all those folks would be interested in finding good tea, of course)! Ancient tea trees in Yunnan are usually processed as Pu Er, be it raw (oftentimes using the best leaves) or cooked. In this case, Gao and Fan did not stick to tradition; they processed ancient tree leaves as black (oxidized) tea. ABOUT THE ORIGIN Lincang (临沧) is located in the southwest of Yunnan Province. Traditionally, it is home to the Wa nation (one of Yunnan’s many ethnic minorities), closely related to Burmese people. It is irrigated by the Lancang River, also called the Mekong. AUTHORS Authors: Fan Xiuli and Gao Feng are featured often in our newsletters. They are Manchu people from Liaoning who moved to Yunnan because they love tea; it is also a most beautiful place to live and raise a family. Not only do they create some of O5’s favourite teas; they are also very well versed in painting, calligraphy, incense appreciation, ceramics, and culinary arts. MAP