1992 Tibetan Kang Brick Tea from Yunnan Sourcing

Hello hello!

Earlier last month, I was fortunate enough to meet Yunnan Sourcing in the flesh! I got to hang out with Scott and his wife, along with another tea friend, and we brewed many teas. We even filmed a few youtube videos together as well! After spending a great afternoon drinking tea with Scott, he and his wife broke out a large chunk of 1992 Tibetan Kang Brick Tea and sent me home with a small sample! Today, I took it out of the sample bag and decided to dive right in. This brick is a Tibetan tea from 1992, and is considered hei cha (which means 'dark tea'). So what’s so special about this tea? Let’s find out!

Dimensions — 6.5g of tea for a 100ml vessel

Brick price — $80.00 for 450g

Water Temperature — boil

Number of steeps — 12

Steeps 1 - 6

Kang Brick opened up to the soft earthy tasting note of dirt, followed by an autumn leaf pile. After a few more infusions, the leaf pile tasting note turned into the tasting note of hot hay, which brought out a light sweetness that lingered on the sides of the tongue. By the fourth infusion, Kang Brick’s sweetness became stevia-like and became stronger and stronger. As well as the stevia-like sweetness, a light undertone of fruit punch made itself known which came out from under the earth and hay-like tasting notes. By the sixth infusion this tea was savory and mouthwatering.

Steeps 7 - 12

As this tea got stronger, it turned gold in colour and developed a new tasting note of cotton/fabric. However, the sweet and noticeable tasting notes of stevia began to lighten up, as well as the fruity undertone. The earthy and hot hay tasting notes became mellower and softer, as this tea’s body continued to lighten up. As this tea’s body continued to lighten up, its tasting notes strongly resembled a shou puer. However, by the twelfth infusion, Kang Brick was showing signs of being too mellow and it was time to be put away…

Conclusion

1992 Tibetan Kang Brick is a brick of hei cha, sold by Yunnan Sourcing, which appeared to be made with larger leaf material. One thing about this tea that I liked was its many different tasting notes, and for being an older tea, was surprisingly sweet. Another aspect about this tea that I liked was its ability to resemble shou puer. Despite that it reminded me of shou puer, and the fact it’s from 1992, I was surprised at how strong it became halfway through the session.

Overall, my experience with Kang Brick was a positive one and is one I’ll be having again in the near future. Thanks to Scott for getting me hooked this tea, I’ll certainly be ordering more of it in the near future. So when I drink this tea in the future, I’ll reminisce about the time I had meeting the wonderful people of Yunnan Sourcing…