Verdant Tea

Crassicolumna is an ancient, wild near-tea relative to the modern camellia sinensis plant, native to the tea forests of Qianjiazhai deep in the mountains. Naturally caffeine-free, Crassicolumna is packed with captivating deep spiced flavor and texture. It has the complexity of pu’er, but a wild flavor all its own.

This special sampler features golden buddy looseleaf tea. There is nothing like tender downy tea buds, hand-picked in cool early-season weather and hand finished by passionate small family growers. Buds have a unique flavor, and an intense sweetness from the stored sugars and the extremely limited sun exposure. In traditionally crafted black tea this flavor translates to honey, sweet potato, toasty bread, and other rich deep caramelized notes with a thick commanding texture. This tasting kit is an exploration of all the ways buds bring flavor and texture to tea from three different regions and three different farmers dedicated to sustainable farming and meticulous craft.

When it's cold outside, we all need our cozy go-tos. This kit is about holding both hands around a beautiful mug and taking in the steam from some of our favorite teas. Whether you are looking for a gift for someone just getting into tea, or searching for the perfect companion to a good book or movie night, this set delivers. Beautifully glazed and fired in a traditional Longquen celadon kiln, the covered mug is meant to keep your tea warm between sips, and to feel good in the hands. The classic blue-green is a gorgeous contrast to brewed tea. We paired this mug with three of the absolute most classic and famous teas we are lucky enough to bring in: fresh, rolled Tieguanyin oolong with all its creamy saffron orchid notes, true Shi Feng Dragonwell (the iconic Chinese green tea!), and Jin Jun Mei - a stunning black tea made entirely of downy buds.

Qilan varieties is almost legendary for its deep luscious orchid notes and its subtle incense spice. The Li Family cultivates established 40+ year Qilan bushes on their rocky volcanic mountainside plot in the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, letting the tea build complexity through biodiverse plantings, and carefully preserved natural forest cover. They hand-pick their Qilan and expertly bring out the florals through hand-crafting over a meticulous 12 hour turning and fluffing process called yaoqing. The careful and restrained roast on this Qilan really allows the florals to shine through, bolstered by the rocky minerality that the Li Family’s teas are famous for.

Rock Milk or Shi Ru is an uncommon varietal that the Li Family cultivates on their mist-shaded, mountain spring-fed biodiverse plot within the Wuyi Ecological Preserve. The naturally rocky elements of this tea come through even stronger as they take in the deep minerality of the volcanic rocky soil. As a rare offering, Mr. Li takes the time to bring out the rich mouthwatering lingering yun sensation of this tea through the hand firing at low heat for hours needed to bring out the very best. This varietal is an excellent chance to taste the terroir of the region.

It takes thousands of buds to make an ounce of this tea, hand-picked near Li Xiangxi’s old family home in Tongmu, in a protected ravine with wild bamboo, orange trees and native flowers growing around old growth wild tea bushes. Once a year in the early spring, Li Xiangxi and her family pick the tiny golden buds off the cultivated tea bushes growing below her family home. The beautiful golden color and flavor of this carefully cultivated Jin Jun Mei (Golden Eyebrows) makes it one of the most prized teas in China.

Mei Zhan varietal is famous for its rich and focused fruit-forward oolong made from long skinny spring leaves. Recently, Mr. Li has been experimenting with a stand of his family’s iconic Mei Zhan in early spring when the plant puts out huge buds that are too delicate to withstand oolong processing. He personally leads the hand-picking of the Li Family Mei Zhan buds and brings them to the family home and workshop in Tongmu for Jin Jun Mei meticulous black tea hand-finishing. The slow oxidation in bamboo baskets brings out big savory notes and sweet rich honey and cream.

Xingcun Xiaozhong varietal tea in Wuyishan can produce black and gold buds. While the golden bud expression has been encouraged through cultivation for its stunning color, Li Xiangxi and her family often prefer the depth and complexity of black buds. This tea still uses the same tiny buds and the same meticulous hand-picking as their golden buds Jin Jun Mei, but with a more spiced and savory flavor profile. This year's harvest is deep, dark and beautiful, punctuated with strands of golden buds between the black- a unique bud appearance reflective of the weather, with a unique complex flavor and aroma.

Li Xiangxi works with her brother and cousins in the Wuyi Ecological Preserve to harvest this propagated-from-seed Xiaozhong varietal leaf and process it using traditional heap oxidization techniques and curling to bring out the tea’s natural complexity. Grown on a hillside in a ravine that collects a pocket of natural mist all morning, the tea buds slowly, yielding an incredibly sweet brew. The tea picks up mineral texture from the rocky volcanic soil and the natural spring water running through the Li Family’s plot. Deeper complexity comes from the natural genetic variation of allowing their Xiaozhong tea to grow from seed instead of cuttings, creating a rich multi-layered taste experience.

Only a dozen kilos of this unusual tea were picked this year. The entire batch was hand picked and processed solely by Li Xiangxi's brother. Once again, we are excited to have the opportunity to share a large part of the harvest with you, and to try it for ourselves! The name Purple Buds refers to the color of the buds after picking but before processing. They are actually a light purple green on the tea bush and have a uniquely tropical flavor that sets them apart as a rare and intriguing black tea.

Ben Shan is one of Master Zhang's oldest varietals, with tea bushes growing on the sides of his high elevation mountain plot originally planted by his grandparents nearly one hundred years ago. Over the years, Master Zhang has used Ben Shan varietal as the center of his research on ancient finishing methods, as a more traditional old-school choice than modern Tieguanyin. This Ben Shan oolong shows the plants age and provenance with incredible complexity, deep creamy texture and encompassing aromatics. 

Bai Mao Hou (白毛猴) refers to the white down on the underside of this varietal’s leaves in early spring. Master Zhang’s 30+ hour processing technique on this traditionally finished tea brings out an overwhelming creamy nutty desert-like flavor, accented by roasted chestnut and white chocolate. This varietal is one of the most creamy, dessert-like teas Master Zhang cultivates.

Master Zhang takes his Special Grade designation seriously. In order for a batch to be set aside as Special Grade, it has to meet an incredibly high standard of sweetness, a long lingering aftertaste, and thick balanced texture and evocative aroma. It takes the perfect combination of high elevation rocky soil, cool stand-out weather during the growing season and on the picking and finishing days. In the autumn it is even rarer to get these perfect windows, so we are excited to be sharing this harvest for teh first time. This extremely limited special grade Tieguanyin was hand-picked and hand finished over an exhaustive day and a half fluffing and turning process to bring out deep intense florals and creamy texture. The true flavor of the Tieguanyin varietal is preserved with Master Zhang’s expert green finish.

Master Zhang takes his Special Grade designation seriously. In order for a batch to be set aside as Special Grade, it has to meet an incredibly high standard of sweetness, a long lingering aftertaste, and thick balanced texture and evocative aroma. It takes the perfect combination of high elevation rocky soil, cool stand-out weather during the growing season and on the picking and finishing days. In the autumn it is even rarer to get these perfect windows, so we are excited to be sharing this harvest for teh first time. This extremely limited special grade Tieguanyin was hand-picked and hand finished over an exhaustive day and a half fluffing and turning process to bring out deep intense florals and creamy texture. The true flavor of the Tieguanyin varietal is preserved with Master Zhang’s expert green finish.

Master Zhang cultivates this almost unheard-of varietal as part of his commitment to achieving the rich biodiversity in his tea fields, all while maintaining zero-impact agriculture for his Original Ecological Preserve designation. Liao Mian Ji is a unique cultivar, full of deep dessert-like undertones and spice. Master Zhang’s slow, careful roast brings out even more sweetness in the aftertaste.

Huang Ruiguang's family Mi Lan Dancong is picked only once a year from single trees that are not pruned back to encourage deeper roots & more robust flavor, year after year. His mountain plot and decades of work in improving agriculture techniques for the region have earned Huang Ruiguang's Milan awards such as the recent 2015 Gold Medal at the Sixth Guangdong Tea Expo. Mi Lan varietal is set apart with its distinctive golden green leaf color in early spring & its luscious deep aromatics.

Da Wu Ye is a truly unique varietal in its intense savory and spicy notes. While most Dancong is all about perfumed floral aromatics, this tea is about texture and flavor. Da Wu Ye varietal takes its name from the unusually large deep green leaves. This harvest comes from mid-elevation Wudongshan stock, picked once a year and processed over 24 hours to bring out the deep savory undertones.

Huang Ruiguang's family Mi Lan Dancong is picked only once a year from single trees that are not pruned back to encourage deeper roots & more robust flavor, year after year. His mountain plot and decades of work in improving agriculture techniques for the region have earned Huang Ruiguang's Mi Lan awards such as the recent 2015 Gold Medal at the Sixth Guangdong Tea Expo. This Mi Lan is allowed to naturally oxidize for over 24 hours before being carefully spread, baked and tumbled. The oxidation creates a deep rich black tea flavor, but Mi Lan varietal’s natural juicy floral honey flavor still comes through strong.

Xing Ren Xiang, or Almond Aroma is a uniquely savory nut-forward varietal that the Huang Family picks once a year from single bushes cultivated in Wudongshan. These bushes are not pruned back and picked sparingly to encourage deeper roots and more robust flavor year after year. The Huang Family’s meticulous hand processing yields a distinct roasted almond flavor, with notes of cooling pine.

This Huang Zhi Xiang Dancong is picked from the Huang Family's favorite high-elevation plot in Wudongshan from older tree stock and meticulously hand finished by Master Huang's sons over 24 hours to bring out the deep, almost electrifying aromatics. Huang Zhi Xiang is an incredibly rich spiced varietal with natural cooling notes that come through with striking intensity with the perfect microclimate, careful hand-picking, and 24+ hour continuous hand processing and finishing. Only a few kilos are harvested every year, and we are excited for the privilege to share. Master Huang's work in Dancong tasting and agriculture won him countless awards and recognition, a biography in a 2015 published book on the history of Dancong, and leadership in every convention and tasting event in Guangdong. 

The He Family’s Most Popular Tea. This cool autumn season harvest black tea is packed with flavor and aromatics, fully oxidized and roasted to achieve the iconic malty, chocolatey, honeyed Laoshan Black flavor.

The green tea loose leaf classic from Laoshan, hand-picked in the He Family’s organic mist-shaded fields and packed with creamy green bean flavor. This harvest is picked in the cool autumn air after resting the plant through summer. The result is crisp, fresh flavor with more savory green bean and cream that Laoshan for which Laoshan is famous. The He family's signature green tea is fed by mountain spring water, picked by hand, and cultivated sustainably using traditional chemical-free farming techniques including growing rows of soybean between rows of tea to restore nitrates to the soil. The extreme northern climate means cold winters and short growing seasons, but the He Family perseveres, protecting their tea in greenhouses over the winter. The result is a deeply sweet and delicate green tea unlike any other in the world.

This is the He Family’s iconic loose leaf green tea: organic farming, curled leaves that dance in the cup, all carefully hand-finished for rich creamy flavor. Delicate hand-picked buds and leaves are withered in bamboo baskets, and carefully hand curled and rolled under low heat to form beautiful long twists that unfold gracefully in a glass teapot or tumbler. The fresh and delicate leaf material is the first new growth of the cool autumn season as the weather starts turning and the mornings and nights are misty again. 

The He Family has a deep knowledge of every flower and herb growing in Laoshan. Every year, they wild-forage herbs for medicine and cooking, but this year, they revived their experimental oolong scenting prokect. Wild osmanthus blossoms are blended with their hand-processed roasted oolong. Because the osmanthus blossoms are so small and so inaccessible for picking, this is an incredibly labor intensive tea to forage and finish. They picked and finished this tea for Tea Club members this November, with just a small amount left, for us to share now with everyone. The osmanthus blossoms are mixed with Laoshan roasted oolong - a subtle and delicate tribute to the craft of the region and the innovation of the He Family.

This tea highlights Mr. He’s delicate and meticulous hand rolling and straightening technique developed in producing Pine Needle Green, but introducing traditional sun-oxidation to make a rich and deeply complex black tea. The result is Lashan’s most mineral-forward and complex black tea to date. This tea is fed by mountain spring water, picked by hand, and cultivated sustainably using traditional chemical-free farming techniques including growing rows of soybean between rows of tea to restore nitrates to the soil. The finished tea picks up the rocky minerality of the soil, and careful low temperature roasting brings out deep brown sugar sweetness.

This year is the sixth fantastic harvest of the He Family's new osmanthus-scented black tea. Once again, the He Family is sharing a rich reserve-level Autumn Harvest Laoshan Black, scented during finishing with tiny hand-picked Laoshan Osmanthus flowers. The brown sugar, honey and fruity chocolate notes are melded together perfectly with the luscious almost creamy floral of the He Family’s meticulously hand-harvested Osmanthus blossoms. This tea is one of the hardest to make in the He Family collection since the local osmanthus blossoms are so small that they have to pick thousands just to make tiny batch of finished tea, but the results are worth the effort.

The He Family saves this time-consuming flat-passing technique for their sweetest most delicate harvests of the year. The flat-pressing technique is inspired by Dragonwell green tea hand-crafting, and with the cool-weather precious autumn harvest, Mr. He brings out floral notes and deep herbaceous complexity. The day-long meticulous finishing process is worth it for the beautiful leaves that dance in the cup, and the sweet aromatics .

Long, slender hand-twisted green tea loose leaf picked in the early autumn from organic cultivation rocky fields, finished to show off the beauty of the young buds. The flavor is delicate, mineral-driven and sweet through every steeping thanks to the careful hand-finishing, cold northern climate, and innovative growing techniques.

This bundle includes four 25g bags of Shi Feng Dragonwell tea for 100g total (20 sessions). Li Xiaoping is an award-winning multi-generational farmer dedicated to sharing true Shi Feng Dragonwell. Her high-elevation Shi Feng plot is one of the most coveted micro-climates for tea in China due to the cool misty weather, the rocky quartz-laden soil, the sweet mountain spring water and the ecological protected park designation. Her and her husband Shui Huamin hand pick and hand wok-finish every leaf, producing incredibly small annual batches, picking only before Qingming festival and allowing the plants the rest of the year undisturbed to grow deeper roots.

This famous tea is grown using beyond organic green tea cultivation techniques for rich sweet flavor, incredible texture and notes of bamboo and jasmine. Situated on a perfectly-shaded mountainside, Li Xiaoping’s Dragonwell benefits from Shi Feng’s unique climate, rocky quartz soil and sweet mountain springs. Her craft captures a rare example of true Dragonwell- deep minerality, persistent sweetness and complex aromatics.

For the fifth year in a row, Li Xiaoping is sharing her new Dragonwell Black Tea! She uses the same delicate early buds as her famous green tea, hand-picked from the slopes of Shi Feng, raised on sweet mountain spring water and covered in high elevation mist to protect against sunlight. After light twisting and rolling, this sweet, rich and distinctly mineral-laden tea is then set out in bamboo baskets and loosely covered for ten to fifteen hours and allowed to oxidize in the afternoon heat. This oxidation process brings out savory malty flavors in Li Xiaoping’s Dragonwell that show the unique texture of the region in a completely different light.

This early spring tea is all about a fine and subtle sweetness, and a long, drawn out aftertaste and crisp texture. Cool spring weather produces a small harvest of truly sweet tea. This is Mrs. Li’s first picking of the season, carefully hand-finished by her husband, Shui Huamin. Her true original cultivar Dragonwell (Longjing Qunti) grows on the mountain slopes of Shi Feng and draws in sweet mountain spring water.

#43 Varietal Dragonwell was specifically bred and selected to bud even earlier than classic Dragonwell in Shi Feng and yields yellower plumper buds that make for gorgeous steeping in glassware. While classic Dragonwell is all about rocky mineral texture, the new #43 is a crisp, bright focused experience centered around stronger flavor and aroma and more pronounced sweetness. Mrs. Li's first picking of the year is full of all the nutrients and sugars stored by the plant all winter long and offers a more complex, sweet and subtle taste experience. It has a longer aftertaste and thicker texture than later harvests. The soil is full of quartz and white sand while the water comes from natural mountain springs, yielding a flavor that simply can’t be matched outside of Shi Feng itself.

The famous Huangshan Maofeng is all about beautiful, perfect buds that dance in the teapot like silver needle white tea or Dragonwell. The Cheng Family picks their early spring buds on their high elevation mountain plot near Qimen and Huangshan entirely by hand to preserve their perfect shape, and works to quickly finish the buds with minimal heat and withering time, locking in fresh flavor and deep minerality that shows off the textural complexity of one of the finest green teas in the world.

The Cheng Family's pristine, high elevation plot near the famous Huangshan yields nuanced, complex, mineral-driven teas. The Cheng family picks the tender buds for this Ding Gu Da Fang green tea at just the right moment of early spring and instead of giving them a Mao Feng style finish, they carefully press the leaves flat in a wok. Ding Gu Da Fang is arguably China's earliest flat pressed style, bringing out more crisp texture and rocky minerality compared to the Mao Feng form. As it brews, the tea comes to life with unique notes of peony and cherry blossom florals, juicy lychee, delicate green chervil, and complex sarsaparilla root.

Huangshan, the home of Qimen Black Tea, is almost as famous for its scenting craft, specifically with jasmine-scented Huangshan Maofeng. It is no surprise that the Cheng Family would tap into this scenting tradition to give an even deeper more honeyed complexity to their reserve-level Qimen Black using golden osmanthus blossoms. The blossoms are spread through the black tea as it dries so that they fresh leaves can absorb all the natural aromatics of the osmanthus.

The iconic Houkui style, inspired by Taiping Houkui, these leaves are picked from a more remote, pristine and perfect terroir than their famous namesake. This flat pressed style is all about the beauty of the leaves unfolding and the drama of presenting the tea before brewing. Houkui green tea has always been a famous tribute tea, even in modern business gifting or new year gifting since its value is so stunningly apparent even before the first sip.  The finishing style yields a rich brew that almost leans towards the sweet green flavor of a fine Japanese Gyokuro, but with the restraint and minerality that can only come from hand picking in the rocky mountain soil above Guixi.

This 2025 Zun harvest is offered both loose leaf (25g packs) and in two pressings: 100g cakes and 357g cakes. This is the Zhenyuan Dongsa Cooperative's "Zun" harvest - a designation chosen by the cooperative that means ‘reverence’ of the ancient Qianjiazhai tea trees themselves. "Zun" also points to human collaboration with a living tree that has existed long before us and - hopefully - will continue to exist for generations to come. The Zun harvest uses the first early spring growth from only the old-growth (500-1000 year) wild trees above the Li Family’s home high in the mountains, and accessible only on foot. The wild nature of this tea’s provenance come through as a flavor texture and aroma experience that is both reverent of its source, and worthy of reverence for its commanding beauty, full of honey sweetness and dried fruit with the support of wild mountain herbs and intense textural depth.

This special set includes all nine cakes commissioned in 2025 to show of the beauty and complexity of the oldest tea forest in the world and to celebrate over ten years of friendship and partnership with the Qianjiazhai Dongsa Cooperative for 900g of tea in total.

We are blown away by Master Zhou and the Li Family's tea and by their dedication to sustainable stewardship of the wild tea plants in Qianjiazhai. These are some of China's most remote tea mountaintops, where the cooperative carefully foraged from trees that can be over a thousand years old.

This kit shows off their new white tea, their single tree and Zun series sheng pu'er, along with their wild tea ancestor Crassicolumna teas finished as both sheng pu'er and black tea. All of this year's cakes are wrapped in our commemorative custom wrappers, with designs commissioned from renowned artist Lisa Nankivil and inspired by each tea. 

Put these teas away in your pu'er cellar and watch them grow in depth and complexity for years to come, or taste through them all now and get to know the wild flavor and powerful cooling aftertaste of China's oldest tea forest.

This is a special cellar release from our private collection! The Dongsa Cooperative does not hold back their teas to age, so we wanted to share how stunning five years of depth and complexity can be with this limited offering. 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.

This is a special cellar release from our private collection! The Dongsa Cooperative does not hold back their teas to age, so we wanted to share how stunning five years of depth and complexity can be with this limited offering. 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!

This is a special one-time cellar offering from our personal collection. Master Zhou sent just a kilo of this incredible tea to us in 2017 and we put it away for years before deciding to finally share the stunning, cooling complex brew. This is an evocative tea that taste like the place it grew. Huang Pian or "Golden Leaf" is already a rarity for the Dongsa Cooperative, something the always held back to drink themselves. When we visited them in person in 2017, we all sipped this together at the family workshop overlooking the Ailao Mountain Range deep in Qianjiazhai. They said it was only for guests and people they trust because the tea market demanded buds only and Golden Leaf didn't conform to that market standard, so they never pick it intentionally. What they have each year is only what is separated out from their harvest, making it incredibly precious. Master Zhou loves the complexity of this tea and is thrilled to see an international audience loving his Huang Pian. We felt the time was right to share this first-ever batch of Huang Pian black tea so you can see its depth and beauty for yourself.

Available this year in both loose leaf (25g packs) and 100g pressed tea cakes. 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!

Crassicolumna is an ancient, wild near-tea relative to the modern camellia sinensis plant, native to the tea forests of Qianjiazhai deep in the mountains. Naturally caffeine-free, Crassicolumna is packed with captivating deep spiced flavor and texture. It has the complexity of pu’er, but a wild flavor all its own.

Available both as a pressed 100g cake and loose leaf, 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 tea is sustainably wild-foraged from ancient Camellia Crassicolumna (厚轴茶) tree, a close relative of tea native to Qianjiazhai. 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.

The Li Family and other members of the Dongsa Cooperative sustainably forage from towering crassicolumna trees to harvest the early spring woody buds that make this new black tea. Camellia Crassicolumna (厚轴茶) is a wild near-relative of tea native to Qianjiazhai; because this plant currently a protected species. one of the cooperative's responsibilities is to protect these trees from poaching. The incredibly-sweet. flavor-packed buds are traditionally piled and allowed to oxidize fully in the Mt. Ailao sun without heat treatment, locking in the natural flavor and aroma of the region. Crassicolumna is naturally caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants.

The Dongsa Coopartive’s first ever application of traditional Yunnan wok-firing black tea techniques to their stunningly-rare yabao harvest! The Li Family and other members of the Dongsa Cooperative sustainably forage from towering crassicolumna trees to harvest the early spring woody buds that make this new black tea. Camellia Crassicolumna (厚轴茶) is a wild near-relative of tea native to Qianjiazhai; because this plant currently a protected species. One of the cooperative's responsibilities is to protect these trees from poaching. The incredibly-sweet. Flavor-packed buds are traditionally piled and allowed to oxidize fully in the Mt. Ailao sun without heat treatment, locking in the natural flavor and aroma of the region, then they are heat-fixed over several rounds of careful wok-firing, done entirely by hand to bring out a deep Yunnan Golden Buds flavor profile. Crassicolumna is naturally caffeine-free and rich in antioxidants.

This is Dongsa Coopartive’s first application of traditional Yunnan wok-firing black tea techniques to their Crassicolumna harvest! 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 traditionally piled and allowed to oxidize fully in the Mt. Ailao sun without heat treatment, locking in the natural flavor and aroma of the region. Afterwards, the young buds are heat-fixed over several rounds of careful wok-firing, done entirely by hand to bring out a deep Yunnan Golden Buds flavor profile. 

This unique black 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 single origin cake from Gu Yun Workshop highlights the unique flavor and texture of the Wei Zhu mountain range. Gu Yun spared no expense, pressing this cake from luxurious golden buds for a velvety gong ting shu with notes of custard cream, cinnamon, redwood, vanilla, and a perfectly smooth soft beautiful texture.

TIan Di Ren has become a widely known and well respected smaller workshop over the years, weathering decades of changes in the industry and forging deep relationships with small tea farmers. We are particularly excited to be able to share a 2006 pressing - one of our favorite years for sheng pu’er in the last two decades. Tian Di Ren’s Dao Sheng Gen label was a special project for high end stone-pressed cakes like this one. Nearly 20 years of age brings out notes of elderberry, bosc pear, cinnamon, eucalyptus, bay leaf, vanilla and sponge cake with the kind of deep cooling complex texture that you only see in the highest quality pressings.

This cake was pressed at the very height of the pu’er boom by small workshop Song Yu Hao. The special grade leaf and bud blend embodies the optimism and unbridled creativity of the era. Wang Yanxin acquired a small cache of this tea right after the pu’er market collapsed and put them away in her climate-controlled storage for nearly 20 years before deciding that this was the moment to share these glorious cakes with the world. The stunning quality of the leaf material, the craftsmanship and the age of the cakes come together for deep, cooling textural complexity and notes of clove, cedar, white pepper, goji, sticky rice, and marigold - a perfectly balanced profile that embodies one of the classic ideals for old school sheng.

Yuan Wang Workshop is a small producer befriended by Wang Yanxin on her lifelong search to find under-represented labels doing more interesting work than the big brands. This single-origin cake highlights the unique, cooling, tingling texture and aftertaste of Bulangshan. Yuan Wang Workshop started with early spring buds from old trees cared for using organic practices. The six plus years of age have allowed this cake to really come into itself with notes of banana cream pie, saffron, tulsi, and white pepper.

Wang Yanxin almost never features pu’er from one of the big workshops like this Mengku pressing, but finding decade plus aged true Bingdao sheng pu’er is rare since Bingdao only recently became so wildly famous, and the 2009-2014 era was a “depression” in the pu’er industry where less new cakes were being pressed. She was able to get her hands on this reserve offering in a low market and hold onto it for a decade to offer now. The wild arbor leaf material and high bud ratio gives this tea a wonderfully rocky mineral-laden texture and Bingdao’s iconic cooling aftertaste.

Yuan Wang Workshop is a small producer befriended by Wang Yanxin on her lifelong search to find under-represented labels doing more interesting work than the big brands. This single-origin cake highlights the unique, cooling, tingling texture and aftertaste of Bulangshan. Yuan Wang Workshop started with early spring buds from old trees cared for using organic practices. The six plus years of age have allowed this cake to really come into itself with notes of banana cream pie, saffron, tulsi, and white pepper.

Rui Gong Workshop is a small producer befriended by Wang Yanxin on her lifelong search to find under-represented labels doing more interesting work than the big brands. They don’t shy away from truly unique blends, pushing a flavor and aroma profile outside of the predictable and classic. This cake uses Banzhang’s famous leaf material, playing on the numbing nutty quality that the region is known for with honeyed undertones and juicy melon, giving it a powerful dynamic quality.

Rui Gong Workshop is a small producer befriended by Wang Yanxin on her lifelong search to find under-represented labels doing more interesting work than the big brands. They don’t shy away from truly unique blends, pushing a flavor and aroma profile outside of the predictable and classic. This cake uses Banzhang’s famous leaf material, playing on the numbing nutty quality that the region is known for with honeyed undertones and juicy melon, giving it a powerful dynamic quality.

Even within a region as famous as Yiwu, there are certain slopes and peaks whose mineral make-up, sun exposure, and even the way they catch clouds and mist rolling across the mountains in the early morning all come together to make something even more special. Ma Hei is one of those peaks, locally famous for the rich, ridiculously honeyed tea that comes from this tiny region. This cake is as single origin as they get- focusing on such a small grove of tea trees. Jin Tai workshop has outdone themselves. Notes of camphor, whipped cream, nectarine, and sweet mint with a deep honeyed aftertaste.

Bulangshan is known for rich, cooling teas packed with zhang xiang or “camphor aromatics.” Ju Ming Workshop is a small producer befriended by Wang Yanxin on her lifelong search to find under-represented labels doing more interesting work than the big brands. Several years of age give this shu pu’er that Bulangshan cooling sensation, along with notes of brown sugar milk tea, allspice, cedar, caramel apple, and vanilla.

Yongming Workshop loves focusing on single origin cakes, highlighting what makes a region iconic, leaning on their decades of sourcing connections for access to leaf material like this- hand-picked from trees up to five hundred years old, growing wild in the prized Banzhang region. For pile fermentation, Yongming brings in specially selected spring water to add moisture and encourage deep dark flavor for this cake in a way that complements the tea's natural aroma. Picked in 2017, this tea was pressed in 2022 after aging loose for an even rich complexity.

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.

This 2019 harvest was allowed to age loose for three years to kickstart deep complexity before being pressing into cakes for long term aging in 2022. The Da Xue Shan Lincang provenance gives this a unique honey, basil and dried apple flavor with a very classic, sweet balanced aftertaste. Notes from Yongming’s blender: Da Xue Shan pu’er is known for its smooth rich body and wild mountain aromatics, drawn from the deep forest where the leaves are painstakingly hand-picked. Small production. Golden vibrant color, sweet and fragrant on the first sip with a strong intense, mouth-watering aftertaste.

CNNP is China's biggest, oldest and most famous big pu'er brand. This clout gives them access to a huge range of pu'er from across Yunnan for blending. This sheng pu'er exemplifies their range, pulling in a balanced and complex flavor profile with floral jasmine notes, juicy citrus, and deep lingering redwood spice.

Xingyang is famous for their rich, luxurious buddy shu pu’er. These single brew session pearls show off the workshop’s stunningly clean and meticulously slow fermentation craft with notes of malted milk, toasted marshmallow, vanilla, cinnamon, and sandalwood with a velvety texture. 

Xingyang has been experimenting with blending flowers and fruits with their teas for about ten years. These dragon pearls are an unbelievable expression of craft, finely balanced, and stunning to watch unfold. Each chrysanthemum blossom was blended in fully intact so that its petals open up to reveal black tea, giving the pearls many steepings that start out floral and become deeper and richer with each infusion. Notes of custard cream, cinnamon, chrysanthemum, bergamot and passionfruit with a crisp and elegant texture.

This is an incredible cake made entirely of leaf material normally reserved for fine golden buds Yunnan Black. The buds are slowly and cleanly fermented before being stone-pressed into loose cakes for further aging. The result is sweet and savory like fine Jin Jun Mei, but with the deep forest complexity of fine shu pu'er. Thick, commanding and singular, this is a cake to invest in and enjoy for many years.

This is an incredible cake made entirely of leaf material normally reserved for fine golden buds Yunnan Black. The buds are slowly and cleanly fermented before being stone-pressed into loose cakes for further aging. The result is sweet and savory like fine Jin Jun Mei, but with the deep forest complexity of fine shu pu'er. Thick, commanding and singular, this is a cake to invest in and enjoy for many years.