Liu Bao Hei Cha is a unique relative to pu’er from Guangxi that gets a deep oxidation before classic fermentation technique is applied. The slow oxidation and clean relatively-dry shu pu’er style fermentation yields a deliciously rich, clean and smooth tea with sticky rice aromatics, and cooling woody foresty aftertaste.

Rose petals have become a highly traditional pairing with shu pu’er, and Longyuanhao workshop’s pressing is a wonderful example of how these two flavors can work together in harmony. The florals of rose are already deep and textural. When they combine with a clean high quality shu pu’er, over time they bring out vaporous spice and texture in the tea. Longyuanhao's slow clean fermentation means this tea is not weighed down, but rather unfolds delightfully on the pallet, bolstered by nearly two decades of aging.

Jing Mai has become one of the most famous and sought after pu’er microclimates in Yunnan, thanks to the velvety, rich, luxurious teas that come out of Jingmai, home to some truly ancient wild tea trees. This particular cake was pressed in 2020, but Wang Yanxin remembers the leaf material as picking closer to 2014, which would explain the deep spiced rich complexity this Jingmai cake shows off with notes of ginger, sandalwood, dried currants, barley and honey. The tea for this cake was picked and cellared by Hua Cheng Jia Mu Workshop, but blended and pressed in partnership with De Hou Workshop.

Wang Yanxin has been collecting pu’er for almost twenty years, and has built her reputation around scouting out the smallest workshops doing the best work regardless of brand name. This cake from her personal cellar lacks all the trappings of a fancy label and nei fei. Indeed, Wang Yanxin has lost track of exactly what year she acquired this offering, but we are thinking around 2018 at the latest. Of course this cake is priced to reflect the lack of collector’s clarity, but having opened a few cakes to taste for ourselves, we are pretty excited about the flavor profile. This is classic Nannuo Shan with that lovely sticky rice quality that we look for in great shu pu’er, plus sweet goji fruit notes and a touch of cinnamon and mint.

Wang Yanxin has been collecting pu’er for almost twenty years, and has built her reputation around scouting out the smallest workshops doing the best work regardless of brand name. This cake from her personal cellar lacks all the trappings of a fancy label and nei fei. Indeed, Wang Yanxin has lost track of exactly what year she acquired this offering, but we are thinking around 2018 at the latest. Of course this cake is priced to reflect the lack of collector’s clarity, but having opened a few cakes to taste for ourselves, we are pretty excited about the flavor profile. This cake is all about its sweet, slightly cooling cedar forest flavor, the touch of toasty marshmallow in the aftertaste and the light clean feeling on the palate.

Banzhang tea is already nearly impossible to get ahold of thanks to the huge demand and tiny output, so we were particularly excited to see Wang Yanxin release this well-aged, stone-pressed 2013 cake from one of our favorite regions. Banzhang teas tend towards deep, multi-layered and toasty. This cake is a perfect exemplar with notes of hazelnut, granite minerality, rosewood and dried dates.

This cake from Wang Yanxin’s personal collection comes from her decades-long relationship with Yongming, one of her very favorite workshops for highlighting single-origin provenance in their pressings. This particular cake comes from high elevation Bulang Shan, a region known for deep complex teas that age into powerful spiced flavor profiles over time. This particular shu pu’er is a generous mix of buds and leaves with a focus on the classic brown sugar and elderberry profile and touch of cinnamon and vanilla.

This 2018 buds-only gongting pressing comes from one of Wang Yanxin’s oldest partners and favorite blenders - Yongming Workshop. She loves Yongming for the way that they highlight the flavor profiles of specific regions- in this case, Bulang Shan. This pressing has rich sweet notes of brown sugar and biscotti, with a touch of nutmeg and candied rose - like  a perfectly considered plated dessert.