Verdant Tea

2022 Wild Crassicolumna Black Tea

2022 Wild Crassicolumna Black Tea

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Wildly-complex,
naturally caffeine-free black tea
Picked from ancient near-tea-relative Camellia crassicolumna trees and traditionally sun-oxidized, brewing up with notes of cocoa, papaya, clove and honey with a tingling aftertaste.
Spring 2022 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
Wildly-complex,
naturally caffeine-free black tea
Picked from ancient near-tea-relative Camellia crassicolumna trees and traditionally sun-oxidized, brewing up with notes of cocoa, papaya, clove and honey with a tingling aftertaste.
Spring 2022 ♦ 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 PICKINGSpring 2022
    • QianjiazhaiMt. Ailao, Yunnan
    • ELEVATION2000-2250m
    • Camellia CrassicolumnaTea Varietal

    This new 2022 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.

    This year's tea is available loose leaf (25g) and in 100g cakes.

100g mini cake pressing
25g loose leaf black tea
loose leaf black tea
  • true
    80
    pumpkin, cocoa
    true
    100
    papaya
    true
    85
    honey
    true
    85
    clove, ginger
    true
    sparkling, juicy

    Tasting Profile

    • savory - pumpkin, cocoa
    • fruit - papaya
    • floral - honey
    • spice - clove, ginger
    • texture - sparkling, juicy


the Dongsa Cooperative also recommends:

  1. 2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Tea
    2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Tea
    This tea is wild-foraged by the Li Family of the Dongsa Cooperative within the Mt Ailao National Forest Preserve. The silvery buds and twisting golden leaves are picked from ancient tea trees between one hundred and eight hundred years old scattered between other evergreens, and wildflowers on the rocky mountainside. This labor-intensive tea to harvest is actually allowed to sun-roast and oxidize without applying heat in a wok. Because more moisture is retained in the leaf, this black tea is a fantastic candidate for aging like traditional sheng pu’er. Only a high-elevation remote place like Qianjiazhai can count on enough sunlight in the spring for this old but rare finishing technique. The result is a tea with the sweet malt of a black tea but the staggering complexity and herbaceous undertones of a sheng pu’er. A true standout!
  2. 2023 Qianjiazhai Hand Fired Black
    2023 Qianjiazhai Hand Fired Black
    The Dongsa cooperative wild-forages the leaves for their hand-fired black tea from trees well over one hundred years old, growing on the cool high elevation slopes of the Ailao National Forest Preserve. The biodiversity and well established root stock makes for deeply nuanced and complex tea, normally reserve for pressing and aging as sheng pu’er. This experimental offering is a new project by the cooperative to hand fire over low heat in a wok for a more classic Dian Hong style. The application of heat makes this more closely related to other Yunnan Black, and indeed it shares a rich sweet potato thickness similar to our Yunnan Golden Fleece, but with Qianjiazhai’s signature tulsi complexity and touches of citrus, and florals.
  3. 2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Dragon Pearls
    2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Dragon Pearls

    This tea is wild-foraged by the Li Family of the Dongsa Cooperative within the Mt Ailao National Forest Preserve. The silvery buds and twisting golden leaves are picked from ancient tea trees between one hundred and eight hundred years old scattered between other evergreens, and wildflowers on the rocky mountainside. This incredibly labor-intensive tea to harvest is actually allowed to sun-roast and oxidize without applying heat in a wok. Because more moisture is retained in the leaf, this black tea is a fantastic candidate for aging like traditional sheng pu’er. Only a high-elevation remote place like Qianjiazhai can count on enough sunlight in the spring for this old but rare finishing technique. The result is a tea with the sweet malt of a black tea but the staggering complexity and herbaceous undertones of a sheng pu’er. The loose Maocha is lightly steamed and then meticulously rolled and shaped one pearl at a time by Master Zhou without the use of molds or machinery to preserve the delicate complexity of the tea.

  • 'This tea is striking in its complexity and depth. The brew was deep amber, almost more similar to the color of Rou Gui Wuyi Oolong than to black tea. The flavor was packed with floral gardenia, sweet grapes and an aftertaste that reminded us of cotton candy. As we steeped it out we got lychee, candied rose, honey and pineapple skin'

  • 5
    6-8
    205
    20 seconds
    10
    5
    6
    205
    8 seconds
    4
    5
    12
    room temp
    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

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