2014 Yi Ji Shu Pu’er Tea Flower Cake
2014 Yi Ji Shu Pu’er Tea Flower Cake
Pu'er Tea
Dongsa Cooperative – Qianjiazhai
and aged with tea flowers
and aged with tea flowers
Crafted by the Dongsa Cooperative
- DATE OF PICKINGspring 2014 / August 2022
- QianjiazhaiMt. Ailao, Yunnan
- ELEVATION2140 m
- Qianjiazhai AssamicaTea Varietal
The cooperative’s sweet, dessert like Yi Ji Shu is given even more sweet rich complexity with the addition of tea flowers. Yi Ji or “top grade” is a buddy harvest from 2014 that the cooperative has been carefully aging for almost a decade now. The 2014 harvest was their first experiment with shu pu’er, done completely naturally without the addition of moisture beyond what was in the fresh tea leaves. The warmth and moisture kickstarted the aging while preserving an incredibly clean flavor that has room to get even deeper now that it is pressed with tea flowers.
- DATE OF PICKINGspring 2014 / August 2022
Tasting Profile
- savory - toasted chestnut
- spice - cinnamon, clove, cedar
- fruit - apricot
- floral - hibiscus
- texture - ringing, juicy
the Dongsa Cooperative also recommends:
- 2019 Gu Hua Sheng Xiao Jin GuaMaster Zhou's Gu Hua harvest is a careful blend of maocha from trees aged between one hundred and three hundred years old, picked for a balanced and rich full body and aroma. Gu Hua is the very early autumn harvest prized for its rich flavor and intense aroma. These truly wild trees grow in one of the oldest and most remote tea forests in the world, on Mt. Ailao. Every leaf is hand picked and carefully sun-dried with minimal time on the wok for a more natural and pure flavor. The maocha is finished with careful stone-pressing in a custom 100g mold carved by Master Zhou. While much of Yunnan has experienced difficult rain and heat in recent years, the high elevation microclimate, and well-preserve forest of the Mt Ailao National Forest Preserve has granted Qianjiazhai spectacular growing seasons, making their new 2019 harvest a great choice for long term aging.
- 2022 Tea Flower Gu Hua Sheng
Gu Hua is Master Zhou’s favorite tea harvest, a small picking from 100 to about 400 year old tea trees that the cooperative does in early autumn as the weather shifts and the nights are cool again. This tea is rich, fruity, juicy and incredibly sweet. It almost drinks like jasmine tea! The tea flowers add a texture and honeyed sweetness. The tea itself was pressed into a cake in an old-school carved stone mold, weighted with a block. No hydraulic press used here! This means looser compression for even and beautiful aging.
$19.75 - 2022 Huang Pian Black Tea Cake
Master Zhou loves the distinctive flavor of "huang pian" or golden leaves that are normally left out of sheng pu’er cakes for a consistent aesthetic. These leaves have an intense, juicy, fruity flavor unlike anything else, and Master Zhou decided to show off their beauty in a special, fully-oxidized black tea pressing that is just as beautiful to drink now as it is for long term aging.
$17.50
'Mr. Deng got in touch with old classmates and raised enough money to build his own workshop, inviting friends and neighbors from his home town to pick tea when they weren’t picking walnuts. He passes on his knowledge and offers a generous price to anyone who can help him pick tea, remembering his own hardship as he got started as a wild forager. He officially joined the Dongsa Farmer’s Cooperative five years ago, and his craftsmanship has been getting better every year under Mr. Zhou’s watchful eye'
Steeping Instructions
Western
4 g.6-8
oz.use 208° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
add 10 sec. each infusionGongfu
5 g.6 ozuse 208° watersteep 6 seconds
add 3 sec. per steepingenjoy many steepingsIced/Cold
4 g.12
oz.use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
8 hoursadd ice & enjoy
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