JingMai Shan, Yunnan · 2006
Wild JingMai 2006 Shou Cake
Wild forest trees, a legendary maker
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About
Single source, pressed by a legendary tea maker who kept working through the years when tea-making was banned. He made this cake alongside his daughter, as he was teaching the next generation.
Making it meant hiking deep into the forest to find wild tea trees — a practice no longer permitted, which is what makes this batch exceedingly rare.
The liquor pours clear orange-red and voluptuous. The taste is hard to place: light yet full, unlike the usual shou. Dried in the forest, it carries the smokiness connoisseurs look for, though only lightly present in this cake.
A personal favourite. Before she sold it to us, the maker's daughter had never brewed this cake herself — she had kept it on a high shelf, out of reach, for safe-keeping.
Brewing guide
3–4g for one person · 6–7g for 2–4 · 8–9g for a bigger table
Rinse first: boil water and let it rest until still, pour it in beside the leaves — never on them — wait 10 seconds, then pour it off. Rest the leaves a few minutes before brewing.
First brew 20–30 seconds, then add about 30 seconds with each brew after.
From the third brew you can leave it as long as you like — you can even boil the spent leaves for a sweet, caffeine-free yellow brew, very gentle on the stomach.
Best in the smallest teapot you have, poured into small cups — preheat the cups with hot water so the tea doesn't cool too fast.