2010 Cha Yu Lin "Qian Liang Cha" Hunan Hei Cha Tea

This is a "Cha Yu Lin" production made from 2010 Spring tea leaves. Pressed into a huge 36 kilogram column called "Qian Liang Cha" (aka 1000 catty tea) and then aged for 8 years before we purchased a whole column and then cut into slices and split into half-cakes (300-400 grams each)**. Qian Liang tea is compressed in a long column (typically 36kg) through a laborious process that involves steaming the leaves and funneling them into a three layered cylinder of woven bamboo.  Then a team of 5 to 8 people will simultaneously compress the tea using leverage and then tighten each section with thick bamboo stripling.  Once firmly compressed the Qian Liang "logs" are dried in the sun and then finally cured for months in an indoor warehouse.  In this form they can be aged for decades or even centuries without molding, only improving in taste, aroma and complexity with each passing year! You can watch this video here to see just how amazing Qian Liang processing really is! Another video sho