The annual return of the tea whose tenacity, deliciosity, freakedness, and all around dankness gave us the confidence to start this tea sourcing project some years ago.

Dá É’s 石头寨 Shítou zhài Stone Village ancient arbors are an unfuckwithable terrain of gnarled 2+ century old stags that reign above the 拔玛 Bámǎ watershed territory on a steep southwestward facing slope at a pristine 1750 meters.

Beastly fragrances rise from leaf braids of mottled green, brown, yellow, and red whose minerals imbue a substantial bready thickness into each steep. Make it growl by pushing it harder, hotter, for longer, or keep it soft, gentle, and uncomplicated by easing up a bit.  This tea's multifaceted responsiveness and paradoxical versatility is what keeps us coming back for more and forever singing the praises of this tea.  The relative affordability of this gushu ancient tree tea that achieves it daily drinker status makes it all the better.

This sheng pu'er delivers the goodness now, and will only get better with age. Compare with previous years and seasons’ harvest from this producer and her Nannuo gardens for added dimension, as well as this year's exploration of different genres of tea styles from this particular garden:

Nannuo Red | Nannuo White | Nannuo Huangpian | 2022 Single Tree | 2022 Raw Pu'er | 2019 Raw Pu'er

Dá É's oldest son Mu Mu has been taking on more of a role in the family business         

original Elephant artwork by Arulu Gallagher