2004 South East Asia Puerh Association Commemorative Cake. Yes, it is a long title. This commemorative raw pu erh cake was produced in 2004 for the 2nd meet-up of members of the South East Asia pu erh club. You will observe from the wrapper that they named this cake 'yi tiao long" (one dragon).
When you opened the wrapper, the enclosed leaflet yielded more information about the cake. The cake was made from 1998 tea leaves. These leaves were harvested from wild tea trees in Bulang, Yunnan. Qiu Xiang tea (Malaysia) was the company that was in charge of producing the commemorative cake.
Notice the white or yellowish spots on the last pix (click for larger view). Yes, some mold were found on the surface of this cake. Tea drinkers normally brush off the surface of the tea cake (a toothbrush would do nicely) before breaking up the tea cake into pieces for drinking or simply ignore them, which is what I did. I simply broke the tea cake to small pieces and store in my tea caddy. I use 2 flash rinses (hot water in, and immediately pour out) before brewing my tea. In case you are wondering.....I have almost finished a cake.
In my few years of traveling, learning and buying tea, I would describe this tea cake as 'wow!' in my opinion. Very impressive. This cake brews very strong and I needed less tea leaves to make a brew. This raw pu erh is highly aromatic; where I could detect nice wood scents with a nice camphor wood aroma which I enjoy very much. The strong complex herbal taste and the very mild sweet finish make drinking this tea very enjoyable. It is very smooth and easy to drink. I do drink this tea faster than other raw pu teas and this tea does leave a nice floral and minty aroma in the mouth. Most importantly, it made me look forward to my next cup or brew of this tea.
I am grateful I managed to snagged a tong of these cakes. Hard to find now.
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