2016 Old Tree Shou Mei · 100g Pressed Brick

Ten years old. Past seven years treasure and well into the range where aged Fuding white stops tasting like tea that got old and starts tasting like something made on purpose. The oldest brick in the collection.

Origin:

Fuding, Fujian. 2016 harvest from mature bushes, pressed into a 100g brick.

What "Old Tree" means here

Not what it means in puerh. Fuding's old bushes are decades, not centuries, typically 老菜茶 group-cultivar plants or long-established Da Bai stock left to grow deep rather than replanted on a commercial cycle. Deeper roots pull more minerals; smaller yields mean more concentration per leaf. In the cup that shows up as thickness and a stony depth under the sweetness that ordinary garden Shou Mei never develops, no matter how long you keep it. Age alone won't produce this. The material has to be there first.

Taste:

Dark amber running to red-brown. Jujube and dried fig, dark honey, sandalwood, and a clear medicinal-camphor note (药香) that only arrives around the ten-year mark. Underneath it all, a mineral, almost stony backbone. Syrup-thick body, no edge at all, and a cooling throat-feel (喉韵) that lingers well past the swallow.

Brewing:

Prying — knife along the edge, lift flakes in layers.

Gongfu — 5g per 110ml gaiwan, full boiling water. Rinse, then 20s / 10s / 15s, extending. 15+ infusions. It does not give up easily.

Boiled — 5g into 700ml cold water, bring to a boil, simmer 3 minutes. The medicinal depth and jujube sweetness come out fullest here.

Thermos — 2g, boiling water, sealed for a few hours. How this gets drunk in Fujian in winter.

Specs: 100g pressed brick · 2016 · Fuding, Fujian · Dry-stored. Keep sealed, dark, dry, away from strong odours.