Morning tea at work- Sheng Pu Erh from Nannuo

This day is really rainy, windy and cold in Bratislava. Except for the morning which was unbelievably beautiful. Since I work in a local tea house, which is located outside - in a really nice park called "Medicka zahrada" (Medic garden) and for few hours there wasnt a sign of any customer, it was a perfect chance for a tea session.

I used a very simple setting, just a small table from our tea house, small mat and a piece of bark from Platan trees growing in the park.

I brewed some young sheng from my collection, namely Long Feng Exclusive Production Red Label 2010 Autumnal Flush.

The cake consist entirely of Mao Cha from Nan Nuo Shan (part of the Menghai county) which was harvested in autumn from old wild arbor trees (up to 300 years old!!). Cake was stone-pressed, so leaves can be separated very easily. As you can see, leaves are of very good quality and just look at those beautiful tips!

I used a small 150ml Modern Duan Ni teapot. I really like this kind of clay. It looks nice and in my oppinion it suits young sheng pu erhs very well! Tea is somehow milder and sweeter from it.

I dont like to use a strainer, small pieces of tea at the bottom of teacup is a part of the tea itself for me. And also if you brew high quality teas, the strainer isnt usually very necessary (or maybe I am too lazy to buy one? )

Tea cup is made from porcelain with a nice shino glaze. It was made by a talented Czech potter Petr Novak (I would like to recommend his blog) I just love his pottery and you will probably see some other his pieces from my collection later.

Back to the tea itself. After being put into prewarmed teapot leaves began to release their aroma. Aroma of those leaves reminds me of a meadow in a summer- full of flowers and different herbs, its very sweet without any sign of smokiness. The taste is surprisingly balanced for tea of this age, very clear, tea feels a bit dry in the mouth. Decente and pleasant bitterness is quickly replaced with sweetness and flowery and very slightly woody aftertaste.

Ive tried some other teas from Nan Nuo and I thing they lack the complexity of Bangwei or Bulang teas, but I like their purity. But I have no idea how will they taste aged (if you had some aged Nan Nuo please let me know).
Overall impresion of LF Red label is very pleasing. I really like the feel of old trees (if you doupt that you can get teadrunk, try some tea from old wild arbor trees, it will change your mind) Once again- a very good tea from Zdenek Prachar  .