Verdant Tea

2014 Loose Gong Ting Shu

2014 Loose Gong Ting Shu

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Wild tender bud shu pu’er
The Dongsa Cooperative carefully times their wild-foraging to capture tiny buds from ancient tea trees for a special Gong Ting pu’er unlike any other. Notes of roasted barley, vanilla, sandalwood, and kumquat.
March 2014 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
Wild tender bud shu pu’er
The Dongsa Cooperative carefully times their wild-foraging to capture tiny buds from ancient tea trees for a special Gong Ting pu’er unlike any other. Notes of roasted barley, vanilla, sandalwood, and kumquat.
March 2014 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
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Crafted by the Dongsa Cooperative

True zero-intervention wild tea, foraged from ancient tea forests in one of the most remote tea growing regions in the world.
 
The Dongsa Cooperative was founded to promote responsible stewardship of these tea forests and pass on old-school pu’er hand-crafting techniques that yield incredibly complex tea.
    • DATE OF PICKINGMarch 2014
    • QianjiazhaiMt. Ailao, Yunnan
    • ELEVATION1500 m
    • Qianjiazhai AssamicaTea Varietal

    Qianjiazhai Gong Ting Shu Pu'er is still a very new practice, made only by one of Master Zhou's students in the cooperative. Using the giant buds of Qianjiazhai's wild trees between 100 and three hundred years of age, this tea is carefully and slowly pile fermented to bring out a deep rich sweetness unlike any other shu pu'er out there. Master Zhou was so excited by this experiment he is sharing the technique across the cooperative and encourage more members to keep developing the craft.

  • true
    80
    pastry, roasted barley
    true
    60
    vanilla
    true
    55
    sandalwood, fir tree bark
    true
    40
    kumquat
    false
    false

    Tasting Profile

    • savory - pastry, roasted barley
    • floral - vanilla
    • spice - sandalwood, fir tree bark
    • fruit - kumquat


The Dongsa Cooperative also recommends:

  1. 2014 Shu Pu'er Nuggets
    2014 Shu Pu'er Nuggets
    This tea is a new experiment from one of Master Zhou's former students, another member of the cooperative. Qianjiazhai one hundred to three hundred year wild-picked leaves and buds are pile-fermented until they clump together in tight balls in the heat. The balls ferment and age differently than loose tea and yield a rich vanilla-heavy flavor that is impossible to steep out.
  2. 2021 Wild Crassicolumna Sheng
    2021 Wild Crassicolumna Sheng

    This tea is sustainably wild-foraged from ancient Camellia Crassicolumna (厚轴茶) tree, a close relative of tea native to Qianjiazhai. This year's tea is available both loose and in 100g cake pressings. Crassicolumna is naturally caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants. The giant leaves and buds picked from this wild-growing tree stock are allowed to gently sun dry without any heat processing to keep the most natural flavor. Wild crassicolumna trees can be anywhere between several hundred and over a thousand years old, and are incredibly tall and difficult to climb to harvest these precious leaves, but the rich nuanced flavor and lingering aftertaste is worth the effort. Master Zhou pressed the leaf material from part of this years harvest into 100g cakes and 205g Xiao Jin Gua perfect for aging and long term storage.

  3. 2021 Wild Crassicolumna Yabao
    2021 Wild Crassicolumna Yabao

    Available both as a pressed 250g Xiao Jin gua, this tea is picked from the early spring buds of the Camellia Crassicolumna (厚轴茶) tree, a close relative of tea native to Qianjiazhai. Crassicolumna is naturally caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants. Yabao buds are extremely sweet and packed with flavor since they are the early shoots of the plant that would otherwise become new branches. The giant buds picked from this wild-growing tree stock are allowed to gently sun dry without any heat processing to keep the most natural flavor. Wild crassicolumna trees can be anywhere between several hundred and over a thousand years old, and are incredibly tall and difficult to climb to harvest these precious buds, but the rich nuanced flavor and lingering aftertaste is worthwhile.

  • 'This Spring, we were lucky to return to Qianjiazhai to meet more of the talented people behind Qianjiazhai’s old tree pu’er and black tea. Through the cooperative, these families and individuals can work together the share resources and knowledge, teaching and learning from each other while protecting and acting as stewards over tea trees in the oldest tea forest in the world'

  • 4
    6-8
    208
    20 seconds
    10
    5
    6
    208
    6 seconds
    3
    4
    12
    room temp
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    4 g.6-8
    oz.
    use 208° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
    add 10 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    5 g.6 ozuse 208° watersteep 6 seconds
    add 3 sec. per steeping
    enjoy many steepings

    Iced/Cold

    4 g.12
    oz.
    use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
    8 hours
    add ice & enjoy