2007 5th International Aged Puer Party Memorial Cake

I recently revisited this 2007 sheng puer tea cake that I purchased from the Hou De Asian Arts at the 2007 World Tea Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. My last experience with this tea was at a puer seminar hosted by Guang Lee at the 2009 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas. (I blogged about that seminar here.)

This is Hou De Asian Art's own product description for this tea cake: "Blended by Mr. Huang Chuan-Fan of Jing Mei Tang and processed by Chang Tai, this cake was made of mao cha from Bulang, NanNuo and Ge-Lan-He area with a portion of 06 big-leaf mao cha from old plantations in NanNuo (to add the sweetness and yun, as Mr. Huang said). It is the official Memorial cake for our 5th International Aged Puerh Appreciation party."

Hou De Asian Arts goes on to say that this tea has "exceptional yun and aftertaste." At first I was not sure what was meant by yun, but after a little online research, I believe it refers to hou yun (喉韻), loosely translated as "throat harmony." If any of my readers have more information about this concept as it relates to tea or taste, please share it in a comment.

The cake of the hour


Sans wrapper

The dry leaves blended into this pretty puer cake are quite loosely compressed and present a dense wood and smoke aroma. The liquor poured from said leaves is always thick and heady with bubbles that could linger for days (if given the chance).

The orange broth has a heavy flavor that reminds me of wild flowers. It is smoky as well, but in a most satisfying way. My tasting notes included sandalwood, rosemary and muddled dandelion.

I do perceive a clean, crisp, and almost mentholated aftertaste that reminds me of a great high mountain oolong.

This is one of my favorite puer cakes from my own humble collection.