This is a wild red tea, and while this term wild gets thrown around a lot in the tea world, for those that know the true taste of wild red tea from Yunnan, there is no mistaking its unique berry-esque herbal flavor. This tea comes from our friend Tan up on Huazhu Liangzi, but the tea these trees produce are not destined for his excellent raw puer, these trees are the natural wild cultivar of the mountain, they are more spindly, growing in the wilds of the mountains, unpruned, unplanted, just growing. This tea has that unique wild red tea, or Yesheng flavor.
As is typical with wild red tea from Yunnan, the dry leaves in the warmed gaiwan give off a rich berry fragrance backed with something more medicinal, like something you would find in a Chinese apocathary. The tannins in this tea remind us both a berry skins and dry pipe tobacco while there is something chocolaty lurking just beneath it all.
When brewed, the leaves exude a more robust tannic fragrance with something meaty on the edges with the faintest fragrance of sage or other cooking spices. The brew itself is a deep rich gold that brews up clear as sunlight unwavering for many infusions. The thorough oxidization of this tea creates a clean mouthfeel that is free of any green flavors or fragrances, leaving only the rich sweet red tea taste.
People always ask us if we had any wonderful discoveries during our time in the mountains every spring. While there are always things to learn, this tea was a complete surprise, and a pleasant one at that.
While we were in Huazhu Liangzi, the tallest mountain in Xishuang Banna, we were checking in with our farmer Tan who makes some excellent raw puer teas and the best high-mountain wild honey we have had in our lives. He was showing off this red tea, and we were instantly amazed by how black and oxidized the leaves were. We have had his shaihong before, the red tea he makes from puer tea trees, they were alright but nothing special. This year however, he switched gears and made an exclusive wild red tea.
The art for this tea cake was hand painted by Sofi (@tea_by_sofi), a tea lover in Ireland.
*Note for the those interested in purchasing a whole Tong of this tea, it is not wrapped in bamboo leaves, but processed as five individual tea cakes, though they are still offered at 10% off!
