• handmade item

• materials: big-leaved arbor tea leaves from Daxueshan

• shape: brick

• dimension: 14 x 9 x 4 cm / 5.51 x 3.54 x 1.57 in

• weight: 500 g / 17.64 oz

Made with tea leaves picked from Daxueshan in 2014, this sheng pu-erh appears dark olive green, and brews bright orange liquor with a vegetal aroma, full-bodied texture and long-lasting sweet aftertaste. This tea is darker coloured and less hairy than pu-erh from other regions in Yunnan. It is a very soothing tea at an affordable price that makes it ideal to be enjoyed on a daily basis.

Daxueshan literally means “big snow mountain”. It is located northwest to Mengku town, Shuangjiang county, within Lincang city. It is considered as the birthplace of Mengku region’s large-leaved camellia sinensis var. assamica. Wild ancient tea trees of up to 1000 years old cover the mountain from an elevation of 2200 to 2750 m, which puts Daxueshan at the top of the list for the highest and densest wild ancient tea colonies in the world.

Due to the vast temperature difference between day and night, tea trees on Daxueshan come with more sparsely distributed leaves, which sometimes lead to more huangpian being produced. The name huangpian literally means “yellow leaves” in Chinese. Some also call it laohuangpian, meaning “old yellow leaves”. During production, tea farmers filter out bigger leaves so that the remaining ones are neat and symmetrical when pressed in to bing. Laohuangpian undergoes the same production method as sheng pu-erh and possesses the same quality. Unknown to the general public, these larger and plumpish leaves are more flavourful and sweeter as it has been grown on the trees for a longer period of time. This tea is worth trying if you wonder what the local tribe and tea farmers in Lincang region are enjoying on their own.