So, I got this as a free sample in my latest Yunnan Sourcing order….Thanks Scott! I am sad to learn that this is out of stock for it is a great ripe. This is my first Cha Tou (Nugget) tea and I am very pleased. It has about 5 or 6 years age so it has no funky pile taste and has developed a really smooth flavor. I steeped 7g in 100ml (gaiwan) at 210f. I gave two customary rinses and started with a 10 second steep increasing by a few seconds…though I had to back off a bit once the nuggets started opening up and giving up the goods. It has a very nice honey/raisin sweet smell from the wet leaf. I found myself with my nose stuck in the gaiwan quite often. The taste is not far off the nose. A very nice viscous mouthfeel with a raisin and enjoyable tobacco sweetness. There were hints of honey and even a bit of cinnamon spice on the 4th steep. I have gone seven steeps so far with no signs of this giving out anytime soon! A delicious ripe with a nice calming qi. I wish I could purchase the brick but no mas of this year so I think I’ll give the 2011 (second pressing) a try sometime soon. I recommend trying some of Scott’s selection of Cha Tou. Ripe pile turds at their best!
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This was a particularly good Lao Cha Tou, one of my favorites. Although the bricks are sold out, you can still get this in 25 gram sample portions on the US site:
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=36&controller=product#
Nice. Maybe I should pick up a few of the samples…yeah its a really good ripe to me as well.
The samples are a little pricey ($6 for 25g), but still worth it IMO to have another 25g or 50g of this very nice tea to play with in the future. I bought 100g of the 2007 White Dragon “Lao Cha Tou Nuggets” Ripe before it was gone, which is the same material these 2009 bricks were pressed from.
This was a particularly good Lao Cha Tou, one of my favorites. Although the bricks are sold out, you can still get this in 25 gram sample portions on the US site:
http://www.yunnansourcing.us/store/index.php?id_product=36&controller=product#
Nice. Maybe I should pick up a few of the samples…yeah its a really good ripe to me as well.
The samples are a little pricey ($6 for 25g), but still worth it IMO to have another 25g or 50g of this very nice tea to play with in the future. I bought 100g of the 2007 White Dragon “Lao Cha Tou Nuggets” Ripe before it was gone, which is the same material these 2009 bricks were pressed from.