DETAILED TASTING NOTES

Warm Leaf Smell: woody, cranberry, clay
Wet Leaf Smell: raw almonds, oat milk
Texture Feel: medium-thick, mineral chalky and a little syrupy
Taste: poppy seeds, wholegrain toast, wood, roasted hazelnuts and almonds
Finish Feel: dry to juicy, sweet
Empty Cup Smell: hazelnuts
Aftertaste: Kurdish coffee
Body Feel: energised, clear-headed

Category: Shou (Cooked) Pu'Erh Tea
Native Name: 景迈大古树熟普洱
Harvest: 2023 mixed Spring/Autumn
Origin: Nuogang and Baixiang ancient forests, Jingmai mountain, Lancang Lahu autonomous county, PuErh City (Simao), Yunnan province, China
Cultivar: Dayezhong (Big leaf)
Altitude: 1,300–1,550m

Medium fermentation, so the tea stays nutty and woody rather than going full dark. Perfect PuErh to start the day with.

Gongfu brewing:
100°C
6g /100ml
1st infusion: 10sec, next: +5sec/infusion
9 infusions

On the go:
Throw 5-10g into a litre flask, fill with boiling water (100°C), and drink throughout the day.

Jingmai mountain, Yunnan, is home to some of the largest ancient tea forests in the world, five of them, covering approximately 1,180 hectares. These are not monocultures but complete living ecosystems, with around 1,500 species of native seed plants and 253 species of terrestrial vertebrates, within which tea trees have been growing for centuries. We have visited producers across many villages on the mountain and sourced from two that stood out to us, both from Nuogang , also the best-preserved Dai ethnic village in Jingmai.
 
This tea comes from the first producer we found there: a young, charismatic guy who brews beautifully and whose trees range from a hundred to genuinely ancient years old, so we call it what it is: dashu (old trees) and gushu (ancient trees). His teas always have an unusual character and never stop surprising us.