2014 Stalactite Shu Pu'er (鐘乳石熟普洱, Zhōng Rǔ Shí Shú Pǔ'ěr, "Stalactite Ripe Pu'er") - This is an aged shu pu'er produced from beginning to end under the supervision of Master Zhang Qiming. Drawing on his decades of experience fermenting tea in factories, he crafts individual batches of both sheng and shu pu'er from Lincang tea. He oversees the growing, picking, processing, fermentation, pressing, and storage of each batch personally.
Stalactite is fermented in the wo dui 渥堆 “wet piling" style that is practiced in the large pu'er factories where Zhang learned his craft. This uses a minimum of five metric tons of material. This tea was fermented on a table rather than on the ground, giving it a cleaner, woodier taste. It was stored loose in Zhang's warehouse in Guangdong province, known for providing a more humid environment for tea storage and hastening fermentation.
This tea has a classic "Hong Kong-style" earthiness to it. Fans of the big factory tea cakes with serial numbers will enjoy its dark, rich, cave-like infusion that comes from the large format wet-piling process. This cake is made from carefully-curated premium material and essentially represents a highly artisanal expression of factory processing techniques established in the 1970's and 1980's.