"Yuan Bao Zi" Yunnan White tea (2018)

TEA ORIGIN

Yaozhai, DXishaungbanna County, Yunnan province, China

TEA TREE

Yunnan big-leaf varietal, average tea trees age is between 200 - 400 years old with 3.5m-6.7m height and 35cm - 50cm diameter. 

HARVEST TIME, PROCESSING AND STORAGE

Harvested in April 2018.  A young shoot with 1 bud and 2 – 3 young leaves were plucked and then withered in the shade and sun-dried, then compressed into flat disk shape.  These tea are good to drink now but also would be excellent for further ageing by keeping them in an airtight container or in the original packaging in a cold with room temperature under 30˚C and dry place. 

TASTING NOTES (tasted in Jun 2021)

This three years old Yunnan White tea has multiple layers of incredible aroma such as  dried fruit, wild flowers and some wild herbals following some woody base notes.  The tea brews up an incredibly rich orange red tea soup. The taste is very freshly sweet with notes of light honey and dried fruit. Clear and smooth texture with no real astringency at all.  This tea can be enjoyed fully right now.  Further ageing would be beneficial to develop more viscous liquor and deeper flavour with steamed rice aroma and sweetness of sticky rice. 

DESCRIPTION

All "Yuan Bao Zi" Yunnan White Tea,  Yunnan Red Tea andShu Puer Tea comes from old trees growing at around 1200 - 1600 meters, made by "Yuan Bao Zi" tea company.

The “Yuan Bao Zi” Tea Company was founded in Kunming in 2008 by several enthusiasts who were fascinated by ancient tea trees. They select only old tea trees which are over 200 years old with at least a 30cm diameter to produce their tea. The company adheres to traditional craftsmanship and specialises in the production of ancient tree tea with unique mountain charm. Follow the sharing concept with tea enthusiasts who love the ancient tea trees enjoy the pure and pollution-free original teas and the meditation of the Buddha.

The tea garden is a naturally growing tea garden/forest where the tea trees are grown as a part of the surrounding ecology and it is independent from human involvement. The tea trees are planted randomly in the forest and mixed with other wild plants and the soil is totally covered with fern plants. Tea trees grows very slowly with deep roots and upwards to produce large crowns due to no fertiliser. As a result, tea will accumulate higher concentration of minerals and polyphenols. It gives very long lasting aftertaste, soft drinking feeling and stronger flavour. The naturally growing tea trees gives another dimension of tasting experience.

To break up the cake: using a small knife, gently inserting it from the sides of the cake, then lift up the knife to break small parts of tea.  You can either break the whole cake at once or only break small parts for drinking.   

BREWING TIPS

There is no wrong way to brew this: you could brew it in a big teapot with 1g leaves for 100ml, in a tea bowl, or Gong Fu style (5g for 100ml) with 10 - 20 seconds steeping time - please adjust the steep time as you desire. It won’t over-steep. Using boiling water.  It could steep for many times.