$10.00 – $80.00
A classic needing no introduction to the initiated, Dá É's ancient tree raw pu'er from her ancestral gardens is the standard by which we compare all other good gushu grade raw pu'er. Since 2019, we've been offering this garden's tea and are once again proud to offer this all-handmade yet affordable gushu from Nannuo Mountain.
Nannuo territories can be divided into two categories: teas grown on the eastern side of the Banpo ridge (Banpo and Yakou), and teas grown on the western side of this ridge line (Stone, Duoyi, Bama). Some folks think teas grown on the eastern side can sometimes be more floral, bitter/astringent, punchy, aging well, while the latter will be a bit softer, sweeter, and fuller, packed with tea flavor. Is it as simple as more earlier-in-the-day eastern sun exposure vs later western exposure? We're not sure.
This year's Dá É's ancient tree tea exemplifies this very well, as it technically belongs to her home village of Old Stone 石头老寨 Shítou Lǎozhài, and begins with a mellow entrance, slowly increasing intensity in cooling Nannuo pine syrup action with forest honey aroma. As it fully opens, heaviness is medium, mouthfeel is lubricating and thick, astringency is light but not resulting in oily smoothness; enough jagged texture to keep the session intriguing before this nectar gives way to a bedrock of reliable mineral-rich broth cruising into the later steeps.
Gnarled ancient trees on the western side of the Banpo ridge occupy a steep well-draining terrain with an average elevation of 1750 meters, a tract that's been in Dá É's family since anyone can remember. The 哈尼 Hāní (or 阿卡 Āhkǎ as they refer to themselves) people have been on Nannuo Mountain for an estimated 1,100 years and have been tending to the tea trees the aboriginal Bulang people are thought to have established there.
As different micro-zones in these gardens slowly became ripe for the picking during the prolonged spring drought, this year we were privileged to get to choose which day's batch we wanted to send to the press. We decided on an especially aromatic and flavorful lot harvested at the relatively early date of April 2nd.
We invite you to enjoy this tea with us!
This year's cake wrapper artwork theme, Water Creatures of the Mekong, feature fish and mammals that call the Mekong River (the part that runs through Yunnan is referred to as the Lancang River) home. A hand-inked drawing by Rosy Kirby of Lost Mountain Prints of one of these creatures grace the front of each cake, and all of the tea from Nannuo this year features the fish the Giant Devil Catfish Bagarius yarrelli “The Goonch”
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Out of Stock
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Out of Stock
Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
This is my favorite raw/sheng pu’er. I initially caste out raw/sheng pu’ers from my purchases (other vendors) because I couldn’t find one that had bold, yet integrated flavors and aroma. When I had this cake, it was what I reached for every morning and sometimes early afternoon sessions. My normal morning sessions were dancong oolongs until I had this.
This tea sits perfectly in the middle of a daily drinker and attention demanding. There were lots of moments where I was doing work or getting lost in thought of my to-dos where a sip/whiff got me to come back to the tea and relax.
I have really enjoyed the raw/sheng pu’ers from R&L.