Pu Erh Mini Tuo Cha – Aged 15yrs

Brew & Taste

Dark red infusion and very pleasant flavor. If you make it, your cup will be filled to the brim with sweet deliciousness with just a hint of carefully hidden earthiness. The astringency is completely absent. The tea is balanced, smooth, and exquisitely delicious.

Origins

Pu Erh Mini Tuo Cha comes from the high altitudes of China's Wu Liang Mountains. It lies in the Yunnan province famous for its top quality tea plantations. The local gardens are among the world's highest, where tea trees grow to produce Pu Erh. At an altitude of 2,400m, only healthy and very old bushes grow. They are said to be up to 200 years old. The plantations are in remote and almost inaccessible. The lack of roads and the considerable distance from industrial pollution guarantee both an individual approach to harvesting as well as purity and absence of harmful chemicals.

The tea leaf harvest takes place three times a year in Yunnan. The first time is in mid-April, the second time is in late July and early August, and the third time is in September and October. The harvested leaves are left to wilt and heated in a pan, which interrupts the enzymatic processes. The tea loses its grassy flavor and becomes mild. This is usually followed by hand-rolling and drying in the sun. This produces Mao Cha –⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ loose tea, which is the starting material for the production of pressed Pu Erh. Steaming, pressing and drying at a very low temperature to maintain the compactness of the tea results in traditional Pu Erh, the quality of which is enhanced by varying lengths of aging.

The types of Pu Erh are varied –⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ they differ according to the level of fermentation, the tea leaves and the form of pressing. Cakes are called Bing Cha (Chi Ping), nests Tuo Cha, bars Zhuan Cha. Sometimes they are stuffed into bamboo sticks, tangerine peels and the likes. Either way, it's an aged tea that changes its flavor characteristics depending on storage time. There are much better conditions for them in China than in Europe. Relative humidity in Yunnan is around 90%, here it is about 50%. Therefore, long storage in European conditions harms rather than benefits the tea, causing it to dry out. Teas that are several years old are commonly available on the market; those more than 20 years old are already very expensive rarities.

Tea packaging preview

We pack our teas in a strong, zip-lock aluminum packet which allows you to easily re-seal its contents. This container protects the quality of the tea against humidity, light or foreign odors, all of which could noticeably affect the quality of the brew.