Verdant Tea

2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Dragon Pearls

2023 Qianjiazhai Sun Dried Black Dragon Pearls

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the Cooperative’s first black tea
Based on ancient finishing techniques, this special offering is not roasted after sun-oxidation, allowing it to age and grow more complex after pressing. Notes of vanilla, ginger, grape, and brown sugar.
April 2023 ♦ Mt. Ailao, Yunnan
the Cooperative’s first black tea
Based on ancient finishing techniques, this special offering is not roasted after sun-oxidation, allowing it to age and grow more complex after pressing. Notes of vanilla, ginger, grape, and brown sugar.
April 2023 ♦ 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 PICKINGApril 2023
    • QianjiazhaiMt. Ailao, Yunnan
    • ELEVATION2140 m
    • Qianjiazhai AssamicaTea Varietal

    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.

4 Dragon Pearls per 25g Pack
  • true
    80
    pumpkin flan, brown sugar
    true
    65
    grape, juicy apple
    true
    75
    vanilla, tulsi blossom
    true
    75
    ginger, basil
    true
    45
    bay leaf
    true
    sweet, lingering, crisp

    Tasting Profile

    • savory - pumpkin flan, brown sugar
    • fruit - grape, juicy apple
    • floral - vanilla, tulsi blossom
    • spice - ginger, basil
    • vegetal - bay leaf
    • texture - sweet, lingering, crisp


The Dongsa Cooperative also recommends:

  • 'However much moisture the tea wants to release, that is how much evaporates…. If you roast it at high temperatures, you are changing what it wants. The tea wants to hold on to a little moisture, but the [high] heat forces it out...'

  • 5
    6-8
    212
    20 seconds
    10
    5
    6
    212
    10 seconds
    2
    5
    12
    room temp
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    5 g.6-8
    oz.
    use 212° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
    add 10 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    5 g.6 ozuse 212° watersteep 10 seconds
    add 2 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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