357g 2009 Cloud Burst Shu Pu'er Bing 豪雨熟茶餅

2009 Cloud Burst Shu Pu'er Bing (豪雨熟茶餅, Háo Yǔ Shú Chá Bǐng, "Torrential Rain Ripened Tea Bing") is made from a 2009 batch of Xiǎo Duī Zi 小堆子 (“Small Pile Fermented”) Shu Pu'er by Li Shu Lin of Nannuo Mountain. Although its pedigree is the same as our classic loose 2009 Xiǎo Duī Zi 小堆子 Shu Pu'er, Rain Butter, Cloud Burst has spent the last decade aging, pressed into cake form, on Nannuo Mountain. Being pressed, the tea acquires a deeper and more complex flavor as the microbiome diversifies itself between the interior and the exterior of the bing. The resulting tea is exceptionally dark, sweet, and earthy, with an umami, dried-mushroom fragrance. The liquor is thick and brothlike, with a light, toasty note reminiscent of pumpkin seed on the exhale and in the empty cup. The remarkably sweet canvas of this tea is painted with shades of leather, hardwood, and peat. A well-rounded and accessible tea serving up two scoops of Funky Shu Pu'er Love for those who crave the darkness.