Highlights:
- Tea uses maocha from 2003, including some banzhang material
- Clean Taiwan natural storage
- Very intense taste and Qi
Qi is very intense and the Taste a bit rough (as typical of Xiaguan). Therefore I would suggest aging this tea further to get the best out of it. Or you know, do whatever you want, I’m not your mom 🙂
To be clear, this tea is indeed already well aged (as fast as possible while preserving complexity and avoiding storage flavours), it’s just that in my opinion the ideal point to drink a powerful Xiaguan production is when it’s really smoothened out.
This is the paper tong version, the better edition compared to the bamboo tong version.
357g cake, 1 per order
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Great puer to start with. Aged maocha material shines through, even compared to other FT productions.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Exceptionally priced, worth every penny.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Luke R (verified owner) –
There had been quite a bit written about this tea and so I wanted to try it. It has a bit of a dusty storage smell I think, but it isn’t overpowering.
When you get it into it is has a nice brandy, whiskey taste to it. The middle brews are quite delicious.
I am going to put it away for a while as recommended by Paolo in his description.
I think Puerh.uk has this cake priced more reasonably than other vendors. And I tend to think that all of their teas are priced well or are available as small samples. I think they genuinely want to make these amazing teas available for us all to try which I’m thankful for.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Nick M. (verified owner) –
Sweet aromas of beeswax resolving to honeysuckle and wood in the pot, a mild background camphor note in the bowl. Rich amber soup. Pleasant bitterness, some astringency inducing a persistent mouthwatering response. Up-front and indeed with some rough edges, as described. Cooling throat. Extremely good value. Wonderfully relaxing. I shall follow Paolo’s advice and tuck away for a bit, though worth saying it’s satisfying already.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Kamil K. (verified owner) –
Robust and flavourful. Storage is on the drier side, but it makes for a cleaner taste. Can definitely recommend
Robin (verified owner) –
A strong tea, both in terms of taste and energy. I was also surprised by the quality of the leaves .. you can make a lot of brews with this one. Definitely rather dry stored, which is probably why it’s a bit rougher, but I can’t wait to see how the tea transforms over the years.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Aleksei (verified owner) –
At last, I got it! I hunted for this cake for more than a year. Of course, I wanted a reasonable price for the cake plus a reasonable price for shipping. And finally, everything came together. By the way, on the other online shops, it may cost almost 200 dollars. I’ve got the cake in great state, I feel that it was stored in perfect conditions. I see that the cake is not dry and it smells majestically. The tea is not very smoky at all, I feel plums and apricots. In the end, it becomes very very sweet. It is really a very good Xiaguan product. I’m enjoying it very much. Thank you, Paolo, for the chance to have it.
Aleksei Kurtsanov (verified owner) –
It is very interesting to me how this cake was stored because it smells so good as if it has just a minute ago come from the jungle. I feel the jungle rain, sun and heat in the aroma of the dry leaves. Taste is not all wood and bark, but apricots and plums, and there is no that specific smokiness of Xiaguan, we are all acquainted with, maybe just a little bit. It is a classy sheng and it is a good companion to spend a late evening with. Now it is officially my favourite Xiaguan cake.
Paul –
I agree with Paolo, thar this one still needs time to mellow out. It is already super delicious, with hefty smoky woody onset turning into deep sweetness quickly. Yet the astringency builds up, so it can get quite present – reminded of forest mushrooms aftertaste.
Compared to the Bamboo Tong version it appears to me, that the Bamboo Tong only uses the usual plantation, whereas the Paper Tong some sort of mature (not fresh tender tips) material, being a lot grosser in comparison. Reminded a lot of material used for Fuzhuans – big sticks, coarse leaves, and stuff. This would explains the hearty astringency.
Anyways, looking forward to transform this one, by means of humidity.