Run Lin (Rainy Day)
Shu Puer Cake 400g 2005
Run Lin (Rainy Day) is the ultimate comfort tea. It’s shu puer for rainy days and from them––a souvenir from a time of more abundant rainfall in Yunnan. Fitting to its name, aromatics of petrichor hover over a dark and utterly smooth infusion with soft flavors of black sugar, dried cherries, and old books.
- Tea Origin
- Nannuoshan and Youleshan and Yiwushan, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province, China
- Tea Bush
- Yunnan Dayezhong (Yunnan Large Leaf Heirloom Tea Tree)
- Tea Maker
- Hu Haoming and Wang Xiqun
- Harvest Time
- April
- Plucking Standard
- One bud, two leaves
This aged shu puer cake hails from a previous era of puer production. It was given the trade name Run Lin 润霖 in reference to the frequent rainy monsoon weather that fostered vigorous tea growth and an excellent harvest across all Yunnan in 2005. Compiled from spring leaves harvested in 2004 and 2005, it predates the persistent droughts that have troubled Yunnan’s subtropical highland rainforest climate for the past two decades, as well as the puer market’s dramatic boom and bust in 2007.
At the time this cake was made, shu puer was still produced only in extremely large batches, requiring 10-20 tons of tea. A blend of leaf for this cake was gathered from multiple locations across the tea production region of Xishuangbanna in far southern Yunnan, including the highly respected origins of Nannuo Mountain, Youle Mountain, and Yiwu Mountain. All the leaves were piled together to microbially ripen over the span of a few months, with regular mixing and turning every 3-7 days, at least 10 times. This prevents the pile from overheating and reducing the eventual quality of flavor. At last, the leaves are dried and sorted into grades of size, then steamed and compressed into cakes. (Learn more about classic shu puer ripening and newer small-batch techniques.)
The final sorted leaves used for the Run Lin cake are medium in size, large enough to develop that sweet maple-syrup aroma that is only found in aged large-leaf shu puer. Over 20 years of aging has developed an utterly smooth, cool, sweet flavor that remains easy-drinking no matter how long you brew it.
