I was in the eighth grade when this tea arrived in Hong Kong. My father owned a factory less than a mile from where this tea was stored; by 2003, his factory was history, and I was in college in New York. Now, in 2016, this shu pu erh is by far the smoothest Hong Kong storage shu pu erh I've ever tried. It goes down so very smoothly. I've never had a shu pu erh that slipped down my throat quite like this.
Shu pu erh was intended to replicate Hong Kong traditional storage sheng--this is shu pu erh that was aged like sheng was traditionally aged here.
As with most older traditional storage pu erh, the taste of storage dominates. The humid aromas in this tea are really quite light as far as traditional storage goes, and this tea is extremely mellow and calming. If traditional storage (wet aromas and flavors) aren't your thing, this tea isn't for you, but I've have Hong Kong-stored teas with much, much heavier storage than this--even sheng pu erh stored so wet that you can no longer discern it from shu pu erh stored under the same conditions! This tea has been through very good (and conservative) Hong Kong storage. While I wasn't given the recipe number for this tea, I'm pretty certain it is from CNNP cakes, as traditionally that was the only pu erh tea that was imported into HK.
This is a very special tea for those who can appreciate it, but at a price point anyone can afford. Only around 2-3 kg of this tea is available and then it's gone forever.
Pictures:
Dry leaf:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGUCCeySCgR ... y=jayinhkg
Wet leaves after three rinses:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGUCOnsSCg1 ... y=jayinhkg
Second infusion:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGUCKu2yCgt ... y=jayinhkg
$67 for 50g. Shipping is $10 for the first 50g, and $2 for each additional 50g. I'd be happy to pack up smaller amounts (even as little as 10g) if you're purchasing other teas, as they can go together.