This cake comes from a farmer we've worked with over the past decade in DaQiShu village in the Yiwu region. DaQiShu is close to Mahei, to the north-east of Yiwu town.
We normally buy this farmer's tea from his trees in SanJiaZhai area, that's located in the protected forest, but he also has a plot of ancient trees growing between Mahei and Daqishu villages. Like most of the trees growing closer to the villages around Yiwu, these trees were cut short in the 1980's following local government regulations, but the thick trunks are still visible, with shoots growing from the thick trunk. The trees are healthy and strong. He has never used agrochemicals on this land and he is meticulous about his processing. We've included some photos that we took in 2018 when we visited this garden.
These cakes are the pure spring harvest from those trees. He pressed these cakes after harvest and and stored them himself since then.
The storage is clean, with honey aroma and flavours. It is rich, oily and refined, with good body and smooth to drink. The nice ageing has produced a more sweet aftertaste with bitterness and astringency emerging only when pushed.
This is a very nice, pure ancient tree Yiwu cake that will continue to transform with age and is lovely to drink now.
