Cultivar: Gushu (old arbor) Puerh

Harvested: Spring 1966 (during the Cultural Revolution. That's why it wasn't pressed in a tea factory).

Origin: Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Process: raw, sun dried, loose. Stored in Hong Kong and then Taiwan.

The first pictures show 2 gr of dry leaves and the 6 minute brew in a white porcelain competition set. The goal of this brew isn't to get the best brew, but to ascertain the quality of the leaves through an extreme brew.

1. View

These dry leaves are particularly long and must come from very tall and old puerh trees. The color of the brew is dark red. Great transparency and quite light. This points to rather dry storage conditions. The brewed leaves open up well.

2. Scents

Lots of camphor, old wood and incense scents. I don't go too much in detail about the scents. These are best experienced in a normal tea session with multiple brews.

3. Taste Cooling taste on the tongue. Sweet energetic taste. Slow build up of a very long and powerful aftertaste.

Price: The reference price for a puerh cake of the 1960s is 25,000 USD in auctions in HongKong and China. On a gram basis, this means about 75 USD with the drawback that you have to purchase a full cake. With loose puerh, you have more flexibility in the amount you purchase AND the price is at a considerable discount!