Concentrated Nannuo flavor of dried apricot, clove, lilac, and vanilla land with the mouthfeel and sweetness of an Yiwu, and with the mossiness of Huazhuliangzi.  Alongside other heavy hitters in western Xishuangbanna, it's easy to see why Bama Wilderness Raw Pu'er has recently joined the ranks of some big names to be considered one of the most coveted representatives of greater Menghai area, yet giving us a sweetness and softness that isn't readily found in this region.

It's not just the vaporous 回甘 huígān returning throat sensation that comes on immediately, it's the distinct sweetness within the broth and copious salivation it produces that makes tea from Bama stand out.  There is a suprisingly light amount of astringency and bitterness found in this one, with medium thickness that can result in mid-session heaviness depending on leaf amount used due to high potency of flavor.

While Bama Village proper can be seen as the highest part of Old Stone Village, climbing towards the ridges that cradle the Southern Nannuo Mountains, its tea production area sprawls down the other side of these mountains, loosely following the river 拔玛 Bámǎ as it meanders southwest down these slopes.

Photo taken in early April 2024.  The rivulets that comprise Bama River were extra dry during this historic spring drought

Old growth Bama tea can easily fetch 3-4 times the price of teas grown in other Nannuo ancient tea forests.  Besides its unique tasting attributes, it's also the limited supply that drives up demand for Bama tea; the core region is exceptionally small, therefore supply is limited.  At this time there are only 28 families that have rights to these handful of tracts of wilderness, and as recently as of February of 2024, Dá É and her two sons re-inherited 13 prime acres in the 拔玛正山 Bama Wilderness (detailed out more towards the bottom of this page)!

We stayed with Dá É and her family for a couple of weeks in late March into April, and on April 7th got to assist with a historic Bama production — the first in over a decade for Dá É — and the first time ever for her eldest MuMu, who will gradually take over the family business.   Below are photos from this day.

RE-INHERITANCE

in 2017, After 17 years of marriage to a man who had transformed into an abusive alcoholic, Dá É left her husband, the father of her two sons.

Divorces are still controversial in Hani customs, and by leaving him she also forfeited rights to the possessions that they had jointly invested in, as well as the connections that being married into his family afforded her.  Her ex-husband was the son of 杨开当, the director of the Nannuo Mountain Tea Factory in the 1980s, and together their combined family assets ensured that they would have a successful tea business in a growing industry. Dá É left behind a lot for the safety and well-being of herself and her two sons, and although she has continued to work hard, she has struggled with tribal shame as well as creating as successful of a business for herself beyond her strengths in the aspects of farming and production.

After her ex-husband remarried and took their assets with him, he died somewhat suddenly in 2020, succumbing to liver cirrhosis.  And now, earlier this year in February 2024, his new wife has remarried and according to tribal customs, Dá É and her two sons now have re-inherited the assets her and their father acquired over a decade ago!  This not only includes acreage in Bama, but also the prized "No. 55 tree", a 700 year old queen tea tree, as well as several more ancient arbor acres, both in Old Stone Village.

Dá É's reunion

Tree No. 55 in Old Stone Village

Mumu, Dá É's oldest son, 22 at the time of this photo

More photos from Bama below, taken by a friend of Dá É's.

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”