Old Tree Golden Flush 2006, Pu’er shu cha bing, 357g

Taking time to infuse well even for a price-efficient tea like this Old Tree Golden Flush makes tea enjoyable not only at the moment you sip it, but also an enjoyable process in itself.

Taste profile

Nose: If you have the experience of strolling through a high altitdue wild subtropical forest after the rain, the aroma of the tea is somewhat similar. Old fallen trees, pretty mushrooms, blooming little flowers, beds of dense moss on rocks. The difference is that the package comes in a warm, pacifying tone. Palate: Smooth, full body with great depth. Velvety texture. Accents of dry longan and Chinese licorice root on a malty, woodsy, and slightly sweet undertone. Tinkles of minerals. Finish: Calming, smoothing, quenching.

Preparation idea

As for all other dark (post-fermented) tea, always use freshly boiled water (100°C) for both blanching and infusion. For a matured compressed shu cha like this, blanching it two times before the first infusion is the best practice. Otherwise, blanch it at least once.

After that, this tea is extremely forgiving. Do it the standard 2g to 100ml water ratio for 5 min, or for a tea nerd like me, 6.5g to 100ml for 1 min. Or even more time.

Although they serve a mediocre Pu’er in this highend dimsum restaurant in China, they made a smart choice in choosing an inexpensive porcelain teapot for tea service. Not that it is better for the tea, but easier for them to maintain hygiene in a fast turnaround environment. For your own use, however, you have much more flexibility and should choose an infusion vessel that helps you maximise the taste potential of a tea.

Or in the Hong Kong dimsum restaurant stlyle — throw 10g ~ 15g into a family size teapot for indefinite amount of time while continuously refilling with hot water. This is not recommended though, but this tea is forgiving and can still render an acceptable cup.

Choosing a proper infusion vessel

For extracting the best of this tea, employ a smaller infusion vessels between 80ml to 250ml, using the standard or the gongfu approach can render a far more satisfying cup than that restaurant lazy style. Use a lower density Yixing teapot — old style zisha — for optimum results. Otherwise, an unglazed stoneware can still render a better result than porcelain.

Yet a porcelain one is still comparatively much better than a glass option. If you have to choose glass, use one that has a porcelain, or thick glass infuser inside, or a double wall one for slightly better heat retention.

If you have to use a metal one, a thermal works better than a normal silverware. Avoid those thin single layer style that they use in some restaurants. If for some reason you need to use a tetsubin as the infusion vessel — which is originally meant to be a water kettle, not teapot — preheat it well first.

Storage

We have stored this tea under our own controlled environment for proper aging for the pristine condition of this product. Once you have broken the cha bing, it is advisable to keep the wrapping paper separately. Keep the discus in the foil bag that we ship to you with, or in any other similarly air tight container. Always touch the naked discus wearing gloves to make sure nothing else grow on that solid mass during storage.