Verdant Tea

This organic-certified pu'er cake from Li Ming Chen Workshop carries their Ba Jiao Ting mark, a designation of their finest pressings. The old tree leaf material combined with over a decade of aging makes this a deeply complex, richly-spiced tea, packed with minerality and depth.

Yang Ji Tian Yuan Workshop has selected wild arbor high elevation tea from old-growth trees for this deeply complex and generously-aged offering. Sweet cinnamon, cooling tingling mint and floral aromatic rose and vanilla come together for a classic juicy tingling Shu Pu'er packed with nuance and textural depth

Yongming Workshop makes elegant and supremely drinkable Pu'er. This Bulangshan offering is unusually floral with notes of violet and tropical jasmine balancing out the dark molasses and thick lingering texture. Expect a cooling aftertaste and complex spice profile that will get deeper with age.

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.

This small production pressing features tender young leaf material for a stunningly sweet brew packed with juicy apricot notes, nutmeg spice and a touch of floral aromatics. The nearly ten years of age give this cake a rich almost 'oaky' quality, thanks to Wang Yanxin's careful constant humidity cool temperature cellaring.

This iconic big leaf sheng Pu'er has over 15 years of age for a deep, rich, incredibly complex flavor and texture. Big leaf Pu'er is going through a renaissance in Yunnan right now as more farmers recognize the crisp, sweet textural quality that big leaves can bring to a Pu'er cake. The large leaves were mostly shunned in the early 2000's in favor of "prettier" buds, so this cake is a rare find- part of Wang Yanxin's cellar collection. We first tried this cake in 2008, and the transformation is incredible. The tea is deeply spiced and cooling, with a tingling textural quality.

This special sampler includes five 25g samples from larger  cakes normally unavailable in smaller sizes for 125g total (25 brewing sessions). Get to know both classic and obscure sheng and shu pu'er from workshops all across Yunnan. Exploring the world of pu'er can be difficult if you need to invest in full 357g pressed cakes before getting to try them. This sampler is a chance to try both single origin and blended workshop cakes and get to know what you like most. From cooling, tingling foresty sheng pu'er to cozy rich caramel-spice shu, you'll get to see how much variety there is in pu'er. The cakes sampled are all 'best of their class' examples, some with substantial aging, generally from smaller workshops dedicated to direct farmer partnerships. If you've been looking for a way to get a real deep dive in pu'er, this is it! 

This special Fu Shou Xiang series from Tiandiren Workshop highlights the unique single-origin flavor profile of Bulangshan. While Bulangshan is always texturally nuanced, this standout has a unique orange and clove profile that is reminiscent of simmering cider, along with brown sugar cake and deep vanilla florals.

Nearly a decade ago Wang Yanxin worked with a tiny cooperative in Banzhang to press an incredible sheng pu’er that we have been asking her to bring back ever since. This year she opened her pu’er reserve and pulled out this gem for the first time - a 2007 cake with nearly 15 years of age, and the same nutty licorice-like numbing sweetness that we loved in the first Banzhang collaboration Wang Yanxin brought us. We’re so excited to get to taste and share this limited standout from Fuhai Workshop.

Yongming Workshop loves highlighting single origin pressings like this standout Yiwu Shu pu’er. In single-origin pressings Yongming gets to show off the work of their farmer-partners without having to blend flavor profiles. This Yiwu standout is packed with Yiwu’s signature cooling forest flavors, along with aromatic fruit and dark buckwheat honey notes.

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.

Tiandiren Workshop blends beautiful shu pu’er. They are known for their deep fruity spiced profile and the sweet clean balanced aftertaste they bring to every cake. This offering is as smooth as any of Tiandiren’s best work, but goes off in an incredible unique direction with notes of basil, ginger and rose along with classic cooling qualities and sweet vanilla.

Wang Yanxin has been working with farmers in Yiwu for over fifteen years. She has recently partnered with the Najiao Farmer’s Cooperative to offer this extraordinary example of Yiwu’s trademark zhang xiang, the camphor-like cooling flavor that the tea picks up from such a high elevation biodiverse environment. The loose compression was expertly handled by Tian Long Tea Co, giving the tea enough circulation for even aging and easy breaking when it comes time to drink. Wang Yanxin has been able to age this tea out seven years to bring out rich sandalwood spice and forest flavors.

Nannuoshan sheng pu’er is famous for its trademark sticky rice sweet aromatics. This well-aged cake from Wang Yanxin has a “storied” background. It was originally sold to another Qingdao tea vendor who wanted to sell the cake under his own brand and repackaged the tea. When he got out of the business, Wang Yanxin bought the tea back at the original fresh tea asking price. She is sharing this with us because of how outstanding the aging is on this elegant cake. The original packaging and nei fei was from the Yunnan Agricultural Research Institute, and cakes in mint condition sell for over $100 in China, but we’re passing on Wang Yanxin’s discount as a “scratch and dent” cake since it is missing the original nei fei. Nevertheless, the flavor and aroma are beautifully balanced and full of deep rich complexity.