If you’re looking for something sweet and floral, keep walking. This tea is a strong tall glass of sheng puer that will put hair on your knuckles and a patch on your eye. We blended it with some real bitter stuff (read Laoman’e), but the majority of the tea comes from Huazhu Liangzi and Bangdong, two gardens that are renown for their rocky soil and a mineralogy so deep, it's almost saline.
This is one for the vault, a mineral rich tea that is all texture and tingles on the tongue. For those wanting a flowery or fruity puer, try the Kallisti or the Mountain Song; for those that love the bitter brew, this is your tea. The Old Salt is all broth and mineral-rich mouthfeel, not for the delicate of spirit. In time, these mineral-rich teas become sweet as rock sugar and mountain spring water, but this is not your grandmother’s jasmine tea, it is a rough and tumble mix for the stout of heart and adventurous of spirit.
The dry leaves when placed in a warmed gaiwan smell deceptively fresh, like the wind after a gentle spring rain, but lingering behind that alluring fragrance is something darker, a storm cloud on the horizon promising a bitter storm.
When first brewed, the gentle floral fragrance of the leaves opens up into something more yeasty, like fresh baked bread with something much meatier in the depths. The brews have a bow wave of bitterness that quickly passes through the palate, leaving behind mineral afterthoughts and a tingling on the tongue. The tea soup is oily without being heavy, and has notes of dried seaweed and fragrant wood. The empty cup is redolent with the honey-like sweetness typically found in empty bourbon casks.
While we are excited to see how this tea tastes after it is aged for a few years, we can’t resist drinking and enjoying it now. This one is an homage to all the old rogues out there, a bit rough around the edges, but with a heart of solid gold.
Huge thanks to Anj, a long time collaborator and force behind Gushu Studios for hand painting this beautiful tea cake wrapper for us!
