{"product_id":"the-fool","title":"The Fool","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTea:\u003c\/strong\u003e The Fool \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eType:\u003c\/strong\u003e Raw Puer (生普洱）\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHarvest:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 2026 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArbor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dashu (Big Trees)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Baka Village, Lincang, Yunnan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2026 Tasting Notes\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003c\/span\u003eCereal Grains, Mixed Berries, Hop Flower, Sugar Cane, Water Chestnut\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThis is probably the most exciting tea we sourced this year out in the vast mountains of Yunnan.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eIt comes from a village just a few dozen kilometers from Bingdao, home of the highly sought sweet and gentle raw puer.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis village, named Baka (no specific meaning or connection to the Japanese word), is a small village of twenty or thirty households clinging to a mountainside across from the Dijie Village.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eAll the teas in this area carry with them a trace of Bingdao, a gentle sweetness that permeates the session.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe production is small, just Xiao Liu and his family making as much tea as they can with two small wood-fired woks.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThey make the tea is a similar way to how we saw it being made in Bingdao, lower heat and a longer time in the wok, this creates a sweeter tea that is highly drinkable fresh.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eWhen the dry leaves are placed in the warmed gaiwan, There is a sweet fragrance of cereal grains and hop flowers.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThis fragrance actually gets sweeter as the leaves are infused with water, redolent of mixed berries and yoghurt. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThe brew is a light yellow that is predominantly sweet, similar to it’s close neighbor, Bingdao.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eBy car, one can reach Bingdao’s core region from the Baka core region in just about half an hour, which explains the similarity in these teas.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eAs the session progresses, the sweetness gets more and more pronounced reminding us of the juice that is pressed from sugar canes on the streets of Southern China.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAfter spending some time in the Mengku region, traveling out to Bingdao and then to Baka, the similarity between these two teas is undeniable, and yet the price is astronomically different.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eWhile a lot of Baka teas likely get repackaged as Bingdao, we are proud to declare this tea for what it is, a sweet and gentle tea from Baka Village in the Mengku area.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e  \u003c\/span\u003eThough we would be lying if we didn’t close our eyes toward the end of the session, as the tea gets sweeter and pretend we are drinking Bingdao.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eWe offer this tea in 25 gram samples (chunks lovingly pried off the cake), whole 200 gram cakes, and a set of 5 cake tongs wrapped in bamboo leaves and totaling 1000 grams.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eIf you're interested in sampling this year's full flight of puer pressings, check out the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/onerivertea.com\/products\/raw-puer-flight-2026\" title=\"Raw Puer Flight\"\u003eYunnan Flight\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca title=\"Raw Puer Flight\" href=\"https:\/\/onerivertea.com\/products\/raw-puer-flight-2025\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, a set of 6 dragon balls from different regions each pressed in 6 gram balls for convenient brewing.  If you've been buying from us for a while, and trust our taste, we have bundled all the cakes together into one single \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/onerivertea.com\/products\/raw-puer-bundle-2026\"\u003eProduct a Bundle Tong of sorts\u003c\/a\u003e at 10% off their individual prices (similar to our tong pricing).\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eWe recommend brewing this tea gongfu style in a gaiwan or Chinese teapot.  We use 6 grams of tea in a 100ml brewing vessel with boiling water, steeping 5 second for the first few infusions and adding 5 seconds after ever subsequent infusion.  Most of these puer teas can be re-infused over 15 times, when brewing in this gongfu style.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eNever bought a cake before, learn how to break it up with a tea pick on \u003ca title=\"How to Break up a tea cake with a screwdriver\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/zv60za17AjA\"\u003eour YouTube\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"One River Tea","offers":[{"title":"Full Cake (200g)","offer_id":46085441126634,"sku":null,"price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Sample (25g)","offer_id":46085441159402,"sku":null,"price":7.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tong - 5 Cakes (1000g)","offer_id":46085441192170,"sku":null,"price":230.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0007\/9681\/9516\/files\/TheFoolCoverClean_6c9f91cf-07c1-45e2-a712-121071348052.png?v=1781688945","url":"https:\/\/onerivertea.com\/products\/the-fool","provider":"One River Tea","version":"1.0","type":"link"}