Late 90s Langhe Ripe pu erh

 

Gather round and admire this old 97 loose Langhe ripe pu erh. 

You will realise there is nothing extraordinary by just looking at the tea leaves. You have to simply brew the tea leaves to appreciate the taste and aroma of an old pu erh.  Such tea would not appeal to some pu erh collectors where the tea is treated as a stamp or butterfly collection. There is no fancy wrapper, brand or vintage on the tea. It is difficult to show off this tea.  I had to use a couple of larger containers to store this pu erh as well. 

Back to this tea. This 25 year old ripe pu erh has a earthly and mellow flavours. The scent reminded me of an old used book store with antique wood flooring and cupboards. Smooth and mellow made this tea as a perfect non alcoholic after dinner drink. I even enjoyed drinking late infusions (10th -15th infusions) where the tea continue to exhibit a light woody herbal sweetness. Old Langhe ripe puerh are well known among ripe puerh tea drinkers in that Langhe factory employed longer fermentation times for ripe pu erh processing. I was told such older cakes was allowed to ferment more than 45 days to as much as 60 days under ripe pu erh processing when the tea was made.   

Such old loose ripe tea are to me inexpensive when compared to similar old pu erh cakes (raw or ripe). The only set back is that you may need a bigger container and storage space when you buy this tea in a larger quantity.