Esteemed Essence 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

• High percentage of broad leaf gathered from tea trees in Bing Dao village in the Shuangjiang area

• Stone pressed in 2009: light/medium compression

• To open the cake: 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 )

• Clean, tender spring leaf gives this tea cake a delightful woodsy, vegetal taste. The addition of a percentage of buds adds a little youthful astringency to the taste. But overall the taste is nutty and sweet

• A large wild-arbor leaf is pressed into the front of the cake to authenticate the presence of wild-arbor leaf in this cake

• Opinion: Drink now or let it age

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.