Lao cha tou is actually ripe pu erh tea. During the manufacturing process of fermenting ripe pu erh tea. Some of the tea leaves clumped together and looked like tiny nuggets or pebbles. Tea manufacturers would collect these nuggets from their many ripe tea productions and pressed them into bricks when there is sufficient quantity of these lao cha tou. I did noticed, during the course of my tea travels in China that lao cha tou were also sold in loose form.
This is the 2008 Dayi lao cha tou. These were sold as 250g bricks. I remembered that Haiwan had in 2007, also produced their version of lao cha tou that came in 500g bricks. I bought more of the Haiwan bricks as the prices were similar to the 2008 Dayi but as Haiwan was 500g, it was my opinion Haiwan gave more value for my money (link).
A single brew of lao cha tou can easily make 12-15 infusions. This Dayi tea is no different. As lao cha tou tend to have 'off' flavors in the first few infusions, I normally flash rinse such tea 3 times, drinking only from the 4th infusion. This Dayi tea is very easy to drink exhibiting fresh toast bread aroma with nice subtle sweetness in the tea. A comforting tea to have after dinner and through the night if you need to stay up.
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