2005 XingHai Raw Pu erh Cake

This is a 2005 Xinghai tea factory raw pu erh cake.  Composed of Menghai region pu erh tea leaves this 20 year old cake has been in my collection for more than 15 years.  This tea was a tea exchange with a tea collector in Guangzhou. 

I am happy that most of my pu erh tea are reaching the 20 year old mark. For newer collectors, 20 years is long time to wait but time will pass quickly.  Store your tea away in a clean and dry space in your house and leave it alone. Of course, temperature and humidity in the house would affect the aging results of your tea but nevertheless your tea will still age with time in storage. It will age vey slowly compared to those tea collections in hot and humid countries but you should still have a nice tea to drink. 

This tea after 20 years of storage is sweet, mellow and smooth.  Not smoky but a delightful mouthwatering tea. The signature menghai aroma and taste is really very pleasant in this tea. I am happy. 

Hong Kong Storage Pu erh

 

What is Hong storage pu erh tea?

This refers to puerh tea that were stored in Hong Kong where the storage conditions were slightly more humid than current storage pu erh techniques. 

Let me explain. Today we store our pu erh tea in boxes or bags and hope that our pu erh tea will age to a taste and aroma many tea drinkers enjoy in drinking old pu erh tea. This aging is actually decomposing but under controlled conditions. Don't be in shock; we eat many food that goes through 'controlled decomposition'.  Cheese, soy sauce, tofu and yogurt are some common examples. 

Chinese tea drinkers don't call this process decomposition but rather 'fermentation'. It a less harsher and kinder term. 

Older Chinese tea shops, used to store their pu erh tea in storerooms that has slightly  higher humidity. One must remember that pu erh tea only found favour with the Hong Kong locals there in the 80s to the early 90s. My guess was that pu erh was just stored in rooms without any control to the humidity. Most of the 'Hong Kong storage' teas sold now were from the late 90s to around early 2006.

Hong Kong storage pu erh taste really older than its age. There is a musty, lightly perfumed aroma and a lightly spicy aftertaste in the tea. The tea when brewed is very dark amber.  This is an acquired taste. I enjoy this tea and will buy some whenever I am in Hong Kong. These tea are getting very expensive. 

I would like to warn you that there are some Chinese tea shops that had stored the tea badly (I had seen some mouldy cakes) and try to pass them off as Hong Kong storage tea.  It is important that you try to sample the tea or buy them from reliable teashops there. I stress again that this tea is an acquired taste. It is not for everyone.