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the Ultimate Pu'er Sampler

the Ultimate Pu'er Sampler

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This special sampler includes six 25g samples from larger 357g cakes normally unavailable in smaller sizes for 150g total (30 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 deep dive into pu'er, this is it!

 

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 a viarety of 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 deep dive into pu'er, this is it!

 

This special sampler includes four 25g pu'er samples, including teas from larger cakes normally unavailable in smaller sizes for 100g total (20 brewing sessions)

Get to know a variety of sheng and shu pu'er from workshops all across Yunnan. It's hard to know where to begin with pu'er, but this kit offers a wide survey of workshops across Yunnan for a huge variety of taste, texture and aroma.

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 deep dive into pu'er, this is it!

 

This special sampler includes twelve 25g pu'er samples, from larger cakes normally unavailable in smaller sizes for 300g total (60 brewing sessions)

Get to know a variety of sheng and shu pu'er from workshops all across Yunnan. It's hard to know where to begin with pu'er, but this kit offers a wide survey of workshops across Yunnan for a huge variety of taste, texture and aroma.

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 deep dive into pu'er, this is it!

 

  Included Teas in this Kit: 

Jing Mai Mi Yun 2020 Shu Pu'er (25g sample)

Jing Mai has become one of the most famous and sought after pu’er microclimates in Yunnan, thanks to the velvety, rich, luxurious teas that come out of Jingmai, home to some truly ancient wild tea trees. This particular cake was pressed in 2020, but Wang Yanxin remembers the leaf material as picking closer to 2014, which would explain the deep spiced rich complexity this Jingmai cake shows off with notes of ginger, sandalwood, dried currants, barley and honey. The tea for this cake was picked and cellared by Hua Cheng Jia Mu Workshop, but blended and pressed in partnership with De Hou Workshop.

Learn more about this tea >>

Bulangshan GongTing Lao Shu 2018 Shu Pu'er (25g sample)

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.

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Ba Da Shan Shu (25g sample)

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.

Learn more about this tea >>

Nan Nuo Shan Gu Shu Shu Pu'er (25g sample)

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 is classic Nannuo Shan with that lovely sticky rice quality that we look for in great shu pu’er, plus sweet goji fruit notes and a touch of cinnamon and mint.

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Banzhang GongTing Stone Pressed 2013 Shu Pu'er (25g sample)

Banzhang tea is already nearly impossible to get ahold of thanks to the huge demand and tiny output, so we were particularly excited to see Wang Yanxin release this well-aged, stone-pressed 2013 cake from one of our favorite regions. Banzhang teas tend towards deep, multi-layered and toasty. This cake is a perfect exemplar with notes of hazelnut, granite minerality, rosewood and dried dates.

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Jing Mai Gu Shu 2012 Gong Ting Shu (25g sample)

Jing Mai has become one of the more famous and sought after pu’er microclimates in Yunnan, thanks to the velvety, rich, luxurious teas that come out of Jingmai. This particular pressing comes from the smaller Wan Yuan Workshop released this shu pu’er as part of their Ma Dui Zhang or caravan collection, commemorating the tea horse trail. The buds-only gong ting blend is packed with butterscotch, and sweet cranberry aromatics, with a complexity that comes from over a decade of aging.

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Clouds and Mist Bulang Shan 2016 Shu (25g sample)

This cake from Wang Yanxin’s personal collection comes from her decades-long relationship with Yongming, one of her very favorite workshops for highlighting single-origin provenance in their pressings. This particular cake comes from high elevation Bulang Shan, a region known for deep complex teas that age into powerful spiced flavor profiles over time. This particular shu pu’er is a generous mix of buds and leaves with a focus on the classic brown sugar and elderberry profile and touch of cinnamon and vanilla.

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Banpo Laozhai 2019 Sheng (25g sample)

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. Picked near Banpo Village in Nannuoshan, this single-origin cake from Yongming Workshop shows off Nannuoshan’s deep complexity with notes of chestnut, marshmallow and nutmeg, with a soft rich velvety texture.

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Liu Da Shan 2019 Gu Shu Sheng (25g sample)

This blended sheng pu’er from Wang Yanxin’s personal collection was chosen for its lilac florals and tropical pineapple juicy qualities, a uniquely sweet tinging sheng pu’er with deep brown sugar notes and a touch of spice already building up after only several years of aging.

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Ma Dui Zhang Bing Dao 2018 Sheng (25g sample)

The smaller Wan Yuan Workshop released this sheng pu’er as part of their Ma Dui Zhang or caravan collection, commemorating the tea horse trail. This unique single origin sheng pu’er from Bingdao is incredibly packed with fruit-forward flavor. Thick wild raspberry and guava, with a touch of honey. Tulsi blossoms and licorice come through in the aftertaste, along with a ringing mineral-laden textural experience.

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Da Xue Shan Yongming 2019 Sheng (25g sample)

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.

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Yiwu Bingdao Da Shu 2018 Sheng (25g sample)

This fully hand-made, stone-pressed sheng cake is a careful blend of Yiwu and Bingdao leaf material to achieve that cedar forest aftertaste of Yiwu with the juicy cooling tingling quality of Bingdao. The silvery buds and leaves yield rich apricot and peach notes with a touch of cinnamon and maple in the aftertaste. 

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 CNNP 2015 Sheng Pu'er Cake (25g sample)

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.

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Langhe 2018 Shu Pu'er (25g sample)

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.

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2012 Menghai Yiwu Sheng (25g)

While Menghai workshop usually focuses on blended pu’ers, this unique pressing highlights the single-origin flavor of Yiwu. Yiwu is famous for its intense cooling foresty profile and this cake devivers with intense rich aromatics and pine forest cooling aftertaste. The silvery buds and long downy leaves already have nearly a decade of slow aging under cooler drier conditions to bring out the sweet florals and build deep nuance.

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2010 Menghai Gong Ting Shu (25g)

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 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.

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