It's not very often that a PuErh tea over 30 years old lands in your lap, and most of the time the tea is not worth the price - there is sometimes a reason why a tea is so old (nobody wanted it in the first place). This is not the case with the 1980's Sugarnut Reserve - a spectacularly aged PuErh with deep flavours, unmistakeable clarity and sweetness.
This ripe PuErh was sourced during a session with a tea producer and friend of ours (we have been working with him for nearly 15 years). After a long session of tasting, he brought out this reserve tea from his collection and, after one sip, I began begging him to release some of this tea for our clients. We managed to procure a tiny 2kg.
This tea's provenance is a littly blurry. We know that it was produced in the 1980's although we do not have an exact year. This was a little over a decade from the first ever productions of ripe PuErh (Shu or Shou cha). We believe that it was produced in Menghai although we do not know the factory and I am assuming that the tea is made from Bulang material.
Whatever the provenance, the tea is a winner. The extra long ageing has produced a very clean and clear taste with more depth, sweetness and nuttiness. The age allows the leaves to be brewed well over 20 times and can be finished off by boiling in water for 15 minutes. Even after this boiling, the leaves look like they can go more rounds.
Finally, this tea has a really pronounced body sensation. It is relaxing, settling and slightly euphoric - similar to the feeling after a good exercise session!
I am so happy to offer this antique tea to our clients - please act quickly if you want it in your collection because this is a micro-batch and will be snapped up quickly.
