Old-Tree (Gu Shu) Cake "ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG"

A 200g cake of our Old-Tree Yunnan black tea. Coming from trees upwards of 150 years old high up in Menghai, this tea is a really fascinating experience: it's bold, but still quite gentle; it's subtle but still quite mysterious and infatuating.

The dry leaves in a hot gaiwan give off an almost tangerine-inspired caramel maltiness. The taste of a first infusion is almost cool, even if the tea is boiling hot. The wet leaves almost smell a bit like fresh mulch. There's an astringency that my black tea folks will recognize, it's present but not overwhelming. Even if you push it (on purpose or by accident) it never gets offensive.

It really sits at a nice point on the spectrum: it's fancy enough to drink when your in-laws come over, but it's tasty (and strong) enough to be a daily drinker.

Just like it's brother TIME THEFT, I'm very pleased with how these cakes came out. I hope you will be too!

Varietal: Camellia Taliensis
Origin: Menghai, Yunnan
Elevation: 2050m
Age of trees: 150+ years

How to brew it:
I prefer it in a gaiwan to have a little better control over brewing times since if you leave it in your cup it will eventually turn bitter. I do 4g in a 65ml gaiwan when brewing for myself and keep my times shorter. The cake is also pressed a bit tighter than TIME THEFT so it's easy to end up with a few smaller broken buds which means you have to pay a bit more attention to the development of the flavor of the tea.