Drunk on Tea Tea Cake
Mengku Tea Growing Area
Lincang County, 2009

• Lincang County, Yunnan Province, China

• Sheng 'raw' Pu-erh

• Produced by the Shuangjiang Mengku Tea Company

• A high-quality cake made from blended mao cha that is comprised of mature broad leaf and young spring buds gathered from tea trees throughout Lincang County

• Stone pressed in 2009: light/medium compression. It is possible to gently bend back and forth to loosed the interlocking tea leaves and break the cake into large pieces or use a Pu-erh cake breaking tool ( un-sharp knife ) but the thick size of this large cake requires some strength to do it

• Rich, full-bodied liquor, underscored with pleasant earthiness. Lots of good cha qi from the mature leaves present in the cake. The maturity shows in the color of the leaf present in the cake

• Clean, appealing, woodsy aromatics

• A large wild-arbor leaf is pressed into the front of the cake to authenticate the presence of wild-arbor leaf in this cake. The red ribbon denotes that this is a special blend or recipe of mao cha, which distinguishes the taste of this beeng cha from others made by this tea factory

• Opinion: Drink now or let it age

This is a large, oversized beeng cha weighing in at 660 grams ( 1.45 pounds )

In most instances use 2-3 grams of leaf per 6 ounces of water,
which can roughly be equated as 2 teaspoons of leaf per 6 oz of water.

Pu-erh can steep for 3-4 minutes.
More water can be added to steep a second and sometimes a third infusion.
(This is the standard Pu-erh preparation for the beverage accompaniment at dim sum).

Use water that is 200 - 212°F
Asian description: ‘turbulent waters’
That’s just at the boil - Boil the water and pour it onto the leaves

Note: Pu-erh is always ‘rinsed’ before being steeped.
This is a quick application of hot water that is poured off immediately,
and then fresh water is used for the steepings that are drunk.