“This tea has a malty aroma with an earthy, leathery flavor that reminds me of a ripened pu-erh. It is a little astringent and lacks depth. It isn’t something I would drink again.” Read full tasting note
“This tea has a very robust and rasping mouth feel. It was very two dimensional and reminded me very of your typical CTC Assam. If not for the honeysuckle and orchid in the aftertaste I would’ve...” Read full tasting note
“For a key to my rating scale, check out my bio. This tea has many of the characteristics of sheng pu’erh without the bitterness (it is a black tea after all). Dried apricots and complexity from...” Read full tasting note
“Before I start this review, allow me to state that I did not brew this tea gongfu style and I probably should have. I tried a couple different brewing methods for this one. The first was a modified...” Read full tasting note
"Unique seasonal black tea from the oldest tea forests in Yunnan with floral notes, crisp vegetal aftertaste and bright body…"
Master Han is collaborating with co-founding member Master Zhou of the Zhenyuan Dongsa farmers cooperative to bring us this wild-picked black tea. Master Zhou wild forages from trees between three hundred and five hundred years old to bring us this rare and striking black tea. Every edition we try is an incredible and powerful reflection of the unique terroir of Qianjiazhai, and a testament to how fine and evocative Yunnan black tea can be. Master Zhou recently started making black tea from his maocha, and calls the tea nu’er hong, or “Daughter’s Black Tea” to mark his only daughter’s marriage last year.
This unique black tea is closer to a sheng pu’er in its perfumed florals, crisp vegetal aftertaste and bright body. Yet, it is definitively a black tea in its cream and chocolate notes. A tea like this challenges the hold fast lines between categories and in doing so, challenges our palates with new pairings.
As this tea steeps out, it becomes a true textural experience combining the woody forest flavor of wild Yunnan with the rocky mineral flavor of the Ailao mountains of QIanjiazhai. Herbaceous notes come through as a nod to the medicinal herbs growing around the wild tea trees in Qianjiazhai.
AS FEATURED BY Andrew Zimmern’s Quarterly Subscription box #ZIM02
DATE OF PICKING:
April 2015
LOCATION OF PICKING:
Qianjiazhai forest region near Mengsong Village, Xishuangbanna. Altitude 2100 meters.
WHAT WAS PICKED:
Young leaves and buds from 300yr – 500yr old wild trees
QUANTITY ACQUIRED:
Our initial purchase was 18 pounds.
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