This is the first cake in the Yunnan Sourcing, LLC "Road to Yi Wu" (易武之道) series of cakes.  Scott and company selected wild arbor material from the village of "Gua Feng Zhai" (刮风寨), one of the remotest villages in the area it is literally just a few kilometres from the Laos-Yunnan border.  The road to Gua Feng Zhai is just a dirt track that is only accessible by motorcycle if its raining.  The tea from Gua Feng Zhai is typically picked and processed by the Yao Minority people who live there.  This special environment and unique processing lends the tea a special flavor that is unique among Yi Wu area teas. 

When brewing the tea you will notice the tea soup is a bright yellow-gold and clear, the aroma is penetrating and the tea is full in the mouth.  The flavor is textured and thick with some floral essences.  This is one of the more pungent and intense of the Yi Wu area teas.  The brewed leaves are thick and stout attesting to their wild arbor origin.

This tea was compressed in a small tea factory near Jing Hong where stone presses were used.  Low temperature “baking” was used to dry these cakes after the compression process thus preserving their integrity!  In total just 30 kilograms of this tea has been produced

Net Weight:  357 grams per cake
Compression date:  June, 2009
Harvest time:  March 2009
Harvest Area:  Gua Feng Zhai, Yi Wu mountain range, Meng La county of Xi Shuang Banna
Total Production amount:  84 cakes