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.

Yiwu is famous for its cooling foresty Pu'er, and this cake is no exception. Notes of fresh mint and cardamom show the best of classic Yiwu with extra nuance and complexity of tulsi, juicy muscat grape and a deep rye flavor. This depth comes from the "yuanshengtai" designation which means that the tea was harvested in a balanced ecosystem with forest cover and wild plants left intact.

Gong Ting shu pu’er is pressed from delicate downy buds for a uniquely sweet profile. This Menghai pressing is unique among gong ting style for its incredibly clean light and floral qualities. Often buddy material means a certain heaviness on the palate, but not here. This is a beautiful fruity cake with spice and vanilla aftertaste that stays light on its feet.

This aged pu'er cake from Langhe Workshop is an iconic example of one of our favorite shu pu'er flavor profiles - packed with notes of blackberry, red velvet cake and allspice. Such a clean and dessert-like profile takes skillful slow aging and a balance of fine buddy leaf material, growing even deeper and more spiced with age.

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.

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.