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Gu Shu Dian Hong Cake — Ancient Tree Black Tea Cake (2017)
Also known as: Gu Shu Dian Hong Cake, Ancient Tree Black Tea Cake, Dian Hong Cake, 古树滇红茶饼
This isn't just any Dian Hong cake. This is Gu Shu — ancient tree.
A black tea cake pressed from ancient-tree Yunnan Dian Hong, harvested and compressed back in 2017, and quietly deepening ever since. Rich, mellow, and remarkably good value for what it is.
What Is a Black Tea Cake?
Most black tea is loose. But some — especially Yunnan's Dian Hong — is pressed into cakes, and there's good reason for it (more on that below).
Pressed tight, a black tea cake takes up less space, keeps better, and ages slowly and evenly into something smoother and rounder. It's the traditional way to keep a robust black tea for the long haul — and to build a little collection you can drink through over the years.
This Cake: Ancient-Tree Dian Hong, Aged Since 2017
What makes this one special comes down to the leaf.
- Origin: Yunnan, south-west China — big-leaf, ancient-tree country, and the birthplace of Dian Hong ("Yunnan red").
- Leaf: Gu Shu — leaves from old-growth tea trees, decades to centuries old, far rarer and deeper in character than young garden bushes.
- Vintage: harvested and pressed in 2017, naturally aged ever since.
- Character: it combines the honey-sweet aroma of Dian Hong with a mellow, rounded smoothness closer to pu-erh — with a hint of fruit and honey, and a deep, comforting body.
- Weight：357g Full Cake
Lovely to drink now, and it'll keep maturing for years yet.
Ancient Tree vs Everyday Dian Hong
Ordinary Dian Hong is bold, sweet and richly coloured — a lovely everyday black. Gu Shu goes deeper: a wild, mountain-air character, layered sweetness, and a thick, smooth body that just keeps giving, steep after steep. It's the rarer, more characterful side of Yunnan black tea — for the drinker who wants something with real depth.
The Perfect Match: A Yixing Zisha Teapot
A deep, aged black tea like this belongs in a Yixing Zisha teapot.
The unglazed clay holds the heat and rounds out all that honey-sweet, ancient-tree depth — a fuller, mellower cup than porcelain can give.
More Dian Hong Cakes
Love a Dian Hong cake? We press it a few ways:
- Gu Shu Cake 2017 (this one) — ancient-tree leaf, 357g, aged and mellow.
- Premium Dian Hong Cake 2020 — all golden tips, early-spring 2020, 357g.
- Dian Hong Petite Cake 2020 — the same quality in a handy 100g size.
Why Press Black Tea into a Cake?
It's a fair question — most black tea is loose, so why press some of it into a cake? A few good reasons:
- Easy to store and keep. Loose black tea is bulky and fluffy. Steamed and pressed into a cake, it takes up far less space, travels well, and stands up better to damp.
- It ages more gracefully. Pressed tight, far less air reaches the leaves inside the cake. That means the tea oxidises slowly and evenly over the years, deepening into a smoother, mellower, rounder cup — a little like pu-erh.
- It locks the aroma in. Compressed leaf is largely sealed off from outside smells, so the cake holds onto its own fragrance better than loose tea would.
A common mix-up:
Not every black tea suits it: pressing works best for fuller, sturdier leaf and teas meant to age. That's exactly why Yunnan's Dian Hong — rich, robust and built to mature — is the classic choice for a black tea cake.
Brew this Gu Shu Dian Hong Cake the right way
— check out our professional Brewing Guide, Storage Care and The Origins below 👇
🍵 Brewing Guide
📦 Storage & Care
🌿 The Origins
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