A while ago I read the Chinese puer blogger Feiyang saying that in the first ½ of the 20th century puer was made from “rammed tea” rather than plain dry maocha: http://babelcarp.org/babelcarp/babelcarp.cgi?phrase=zhucha&define=1
He also said Xiaguan still uses zhucha in its bricks made for the Tibet market.
I got my hands on a 2004 Xiaguan Tibetan Flame brick not because I expected it to be superb—they’re pretty cheap, actually—but because I’m interested in tea technology and history.
It’s highly compressed and full of tiny fragments: not their best raw material.
It’s pretty good in the cup, I think. It’s a bit smoky for the first couple of steeps, but then it settles down to a fairly rich, woody beverage.
In a blind test, I probably would’ve guessed it was Sichuan or Hunan heicha rather than puer.
@babelcarp
I like the construction of some Tibetan bricks for the same reason... So much more personality in there than a higher quality tea cake/brick