The other side of tea

This tea (pressed cake from 2016) comes from the Xiang Zhu Qing village, in the Fengqing area (Lincang). This terroir is famous for being home to the oldest tea tree, which is 3200 years old. The surrounding is of high quality, with a wide cover of ancient forests. There are many wild tea trees growing naturally in that area as well ancient domestic tea trees, man-planted there several hundred years ago. This tea, manufactured by Li Yu Lu, a small producer from the village, is a blend of a fine selection of leaves from 500 different ancient trees, some of which are over 1000 years old and produce each only a few kilograms per year. The natural diversity of trees of different natures provides this puerh with special richness, balance, and complexity. In this bouquet, the wild tea tree brings a fresh and flowery nose, while the ancient plantation varieties lay a more sober base, a tannic structure, some fruit, and a good aromatic richness. Selected, shaped, and sorted in the village by Li Yu Lu, the leaves are then traditionally pressed in the Yi Wu village, to be eventually wrapped in handcrafted Dai paper.