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We are going to have a limited batch of Wild Ancient Pu-erh…

Tea Adventures

We are going to have a limited batch of Wild Ancient Pu-erh Bingcha from the early spring harvest, I made my commission. Tasted the raw materials last night and it is superb, drinkable now but encouraging the wait- age for at least 5 years. I tasted one aged in Yunnan for 5 years and it was deep. Deep, in a way that it is not readily accessible, but those with complex and nuanced palates, or fans of Pu-erh, will fall over for. Yunnan weather is similar to Bay Area, so 5 years aged was very encouraging. If you live in a humid part of the world, it would just mean that much deeper in 5 years.
It will be up on the pre-order section soon online. I am also hatching a plan to age more of these precious wild mountain stuff in Guangdong, where the humidity and heat will get it aging fast. The plan is to have everyone claim a spot. More news on the plan soon.

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Back to business. The old Menghai factory is now Tae Tea, and the…

Tea Adventures

Back to business. The old Menghai factory is now Tae Tea, and the old Yunnan Import Export company ‘China Inc.’ has folded into Zhong Cha Company, which is the largest State owned brand of teas. (中茶). Tae is privately owned and produces the largest quantity of Pu-erh today. Above: the old Menghai factory is still going strong. Professionals for Zhong Cha is tasting and grading Maocha, the raw material, to determine its future life. These pros will say: the more you taste Pu-erh, the more difficult your job is as you become acquainted with such a huge myriad of permutations….

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Bulang village is prospering off of the old tea trees on top of…

Tea Adventures

Bulang village is prospering off of the old tea trees on top of the mountain. Of the 16 different ethnic minorities at Xishuangbanna 西双版納 the Dai 傣族 are the majorities here and cleverly banished the Bulang 布朗 up to the top of the mountain where transportation is difficult some remote ancient years ago. Little did they figure that Pu-Erh tea from the old trees would fetch astronomical auction prices in the future. Here, the Bulang architecture looks very Dai /Thai like indeed.

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Me, and Mr. Wang, one of the most serious, and seriously…

Tea Adventures

Me, and Mr. Wang, one of the most serious, and seriously respected, Pu-Erh merchants around. To say he is merely a merchant though, is hardly close to his deep expertise, selection process, serious attention to all nuances, and his ability to push all the levers throughout the new incarnations of the old Menghai and Yunnan factories. He is responsible for setting the standards for what is regarded as some of the highest quality Pu-erh. Here we pay homage together to the old trees of Bulang, Mr. Wang’ favorite mountain for Pu-Erh.

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What machines can not replace: hand sorting tea. Here, sorting…

Tea Adventures

What machines can not replace: hand sorting tea. Here, sorting through Sheng Cha, and Shu Cha on the right. Ensuring that every piece of leaf that goes into a compressed Bing is the right quality- Machines can never replace the discerning hand eye sorting such brittle large leaves. For many consumers, buying Pu-Erh compressed cakes blind means not only not knowing what the leaf quality inside the middle of the cakes are, or whether it is the right fermentation, but that if the hand sorting wasn’t done, miscellaneous items aside from reject leaves will certainly be included. Even good quality Bingcha will include several different grades, the prettier leaves on the outside, nevermind unreliable factories. Pu-Erh is the Wild Wild South of tea.

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