NYC Tapwater | 2026 Bangdong Gushu
One River Tea
Regular price
$62.00
Sale
We're very excited to release this pure Spring tea made from exclusively ancient trees in the mineral-rich terroir of the Bangdong Village, just across a mountain valley from our beloved Xigui. We first visited these sandy slopes in Spring of 2023 and were utterly astounded by the incredible number of ancient trees in these hills. Their thick trunks and roots that reach around boulders through the red earth, the way Sister Meng hopped from rock to rock across dry ravines, here old broken-roofed home in the mountains with the ancient tea trees providing shade, really all feeds into our wonder of this tea, and our excitement to do this region the honor it desrves by showcasing their gushu.
Bangdong has quickly become one of our secret favorites in the puer lineup. With depthless minerality, very little bitterness, and a sweetness that shines like a cut gem, it has been a comfort tea in our cabinet since we first sourced it in 2023.
There is a freshness to the dry leaves in the warmed gaiwan, reminiscent of spring grasses and violets in the breeze, underneath there is a hint of caramel and sugar with the slightest edge of toast. Even after the initial infusions, the fragrances remain dry and crisp with a savory edge like toasted seaweed or sesame.
The brew is thirst quenching, rather sweet, with savory notes redolent of Japanese nori. The modest yellow brew coats the mouth in an oily fashion leaving a lot left over to taste between infusions. The dominant expression of this tea in the early infusions is its intense minerality. This sweetens up through the session creating a good dozen infusions of rock-sugar sweet water in the teas later half. For us, the true joy comes in this second half of the session, wherein this tea becomes sweeter and sweeter as we refill the kettle with another 1.5 liters of water and continue on, really long-lasting session if you're present for it.
The Bangdong village is famous for its deep mineralogy, in fact the makers call their teas Yancha or Rock Teas, which to those literate in Chinese oolongs is a name that's already taken by the Wuyi Oolongs. This name however is a true reflection of their boulder-strewn sandy side of the mountain, and is readily apparent in the taste of the tea itself.