2015 Gao Jia Shan “Bai Liang Cha” Hunan Tea

Description

Another excellent Gao Jia Shan production! Entirely wild arbor tea harvested in Spring 2015 from Anhua County’s own Gao Jia and Yun Tai Mountains. Aging from 2015 to 2023 in Anhua has taken the edge off this tea giving it a nice lightly aged taste that is mellow and sweet. Due to the tight compression you can really push this with long steeps and you’ll be surprised by its complexity and sweetness!

Bai Liang Cha (百两茶) is a smaller cousin of the largest Qian Liang Cha (千两茶).

Shi Liang Cha is 365 grams (0.365kg)

Bai Liang Cha is 3650 grams (3.65kg)

Qian Liang Cha is 36,500 gram (36.5kg)

Bai Liang Cha process is similar to Qian Liang Cha, but on a smaller scale.

Qian Liang tea is compressed in a long column (typically 36.5kg) 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 shows how the Qian Liang log is opened and prepped for the cutting stage when it’s moved to the consumption stage. 

The taste is spicy, sweet, thick, with hints of brewer’s yeast and mushrooms. Really kind of difficult to describe, so we would encourage you to purchase the lesser amount first to see if you like it.

If you buy the whole piece, please know that it’s tightly compressed and will take some work to remove the bamboo from the exterior and to break off pieces.  If you have a thin kerf miter saw it would make it elegant and easy!

If you order less than the entire log you will get a portion of the Bai Liang ‘log’.   If you want the whole thing, please make sure to choose ‘Entire Bai Liang Cha’ from the weight selection menu.

We recommend brewing this with the hottest water.  You can can brew gong fu style, or you can try brewing in a SAMA Thermal Flask for maximum extraction and thick taste!

Weight:  3.65 kilograms of tea 

Vintage: Spring 2015