Ripe Puer Tea

Hua Zhu Liang Zi ripe pu’er offers a surprisingly vibrant depth for shou cha. Its core is dark chocolate and steamed red beans, layered with antique oakwood sweetness and damp forest floor earthiness. Unlike heavier Menghai shou, it carries a bright dried lotus seed nuance and brown sugar finish. The texture is silky-thick, coating the palate without muddiness, while fermentation-derived notes of sweet clay and taro root emerge in later steeps. Minimal "pile taste" allows clean mineral freshness (reminiscent of wet river stones) to shine. Aged cakes (5+ years) develop black fig richness and ambergris warmth.