Verdant Tea

2021 Wild Crassicolumna Sheng

2021 Wild Crassicolumna Sheng

banner
Modern tea ancestor, wild-picked
in an ancient tea forest
Camellia crassiclolumna grows wild in mountainous Qianjiazhai. This rare, difficult-to-harvest tea is finished as a sheng pu’er to maximize aging potential. Notes of mango, artichoke, saffron, licorice, and sweet corn.
May 2021 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
Modern tea ancestor, wild-picked
in an ancient tea forest
Camellia crassiclolumna grows wild in mountainous Qianjiazhai. This rare, difficult-to-harvest tea is finished as a sheng pu’er to maximize aging potential. Notes of mango, artichoke, saffron, licorice, and sweet corn.
May 2021 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
Loading...

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 PICKINGMay 2021
    • QianjiazhaiMt. Ailao, Yunnan
    • ELEVATION2000-2250m
    • Camellia CrassicolumnaTea Varietal

    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 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 250g Xiao Jin gua, perfect for aging and long term storage.

  • true
    75
    strawberry, mango
    true
    75
    saffron
    true
    70
    toasted artichoke
    true
    60
    sweet corn
    true
    60
    cinnamon, licorice
    true
    crisp, lingering

    Tasting Profile

    • fruit - strawberry, mango
    • floral - saffron
    • vegetal - toasted artichoke
    • savory - sweet corn
    • spice - cinnamon, licorice
    • texture - crisp, lingering


the Dongsa Cooperative also recommends:

  1. 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.

  2. 2021 Wild Crassicolumna Black Tea
    2021 Wild Crassicolumna Black Tea
    Available both loose leaf and in pressed 100g cakes, this new 2019 tea is picked from the early spring leaves and tender buds of the Camellia Crassicolumna tree, a close relative of the tea plant native to Qianjiazhai. Crassicolumna is naturally caffeine-free and high in antioxidants. Since Crassicolumna is native to the Qianjiazhai region, there are many examples of staggeringly old Crassicolumna trees. Mr. Li of the cooperative is actually employed by the local government as an environmental protection officer to make sure these ancient trees are protected from poaching, where outsiders would sneak in in the cover of darkness to cut the tall trees and quickly harvest their precious leaves. Mr. Li has found that the best way to protect the trees is to allow sustainable wild foraging by the people living in the protected region in exchange for their help watching over remote Crassicolumna groves. This extremely rare and labor-intensive to harvest offering is allowed to slowly sun-roast to oxidize and finished as a unique black tea with a rich fruity but wild flavor, all without the caffeine you’d see in camellia sinensis.
  3. 2020 Wild Crassicolumna Yabao
    2020 Wild Crassicolumna Yabao
    This year, this tea is available both loose leaf and in 100g and 250g pressings. 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 year's harvest is complex, with exciting aging potential.
  • 'The first steepings of Crassicolumna Yabao were full of the flavor we have come to know and love in Qianjiazhai- tulsi, juniper and cedar. Yet the complexity and aromatics didn’t stop there. We got candied citrus peel, lemongrass and rosemary. While other yabao is light and crisp, this yabao is thick and hefty, almost creamy or brothy in texture'

  • 5
    6-8
    205
    20 seconds
    10
    5
    6
    205
    8 seconds
    4
    5
    12
    205
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    5 g.6-8
    oz.
    use 205° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
    add 10 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    5 g.6 ozuse 205° watersteep 8 seconds
    add 4 sec. per steeping
    enjoy many steepings

    Iced/Cold

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

Product Photo Gallery