Xingyang Workshop brings fifty years of farmer relationships to bear in sourcing these beautiful, elegant Yunnan black tea buds from mountains around Ailao and Wuliang. They treat these buds to a long traditional sun oxidation and delicate curling work - a process that requires meticulous hand labor to shape the buds without breaking them. This process brings out deep intense complexity highlighting notes of cedar, black pepper, burdock, graham cracker, masa corn flour, dried guava and vanilla. All with a crisp mineral-driven 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.

Xingyang’s dragon pearl pressings are perfect for individual brew sessions. This blend is unique from their mini-brick format, showing off a juicier flavor profile with notes of apricot, jasmine, toasted coconut, ginger and cedar with a honeyed and tingling aftertaste.