Jiutaipo Pu'erh Raw

九台坡古树生普洱

Harvest
April 2023

Origin
Jinggu, Yunnan

For the past few years Tang Wang has been looking for abandoned pu’erh tea trees in the mountains and jungles by his tea farm. He has experimented with harvesting their leaves and making them into different pu’erh raws. Last year he released the first small batch this pu’erh, made entirely from leaves he collected on his foraging trips.

“Jiutaipo” is the name of a very small, and very remote, village in Jinggu, Yunnan. There are only 41 households in this village, and nearby them stand the oldest and most difficult to access tea gardens in Jinggu.

It is a privilege for us to present this special pu’erh raw from the ancient trees of Jiutaipo.

This tea is from a beautiful alpine garden situated at 6000 ft elevation. The tea trees are of the indigenous Mengku “Big-Leaf” varietal, and are all between 150-200 years old. They were planted by people in the late Qing Dynasty, with the intention of producing tea to be exported to Myanmar, Hong Kong and Macau.

The tea garden sits on the west side of the mountain, facing east, receiving plenty of sunshine. It is surrounded by a healthy, old growth forest. There are no built roads leading to the garden, making it very hard to find and reach. The tea trees are considered semi-wild, because while they were planted for cultivating centuries ago, they survive with minimal human intervention in the wild, on their own.

The practice is to only harvest these trees once-per-year in the spring. For this one, special harvest, only the first leaves are picked. The first harvest leaves are crafted into a cake using the traditional sun-drying technique.

This pu’erh is undeniably striking. It has a deep and unique metallic quality, evoking a volcanic terrain: hot rocks, and a warm, slow, spreading sensation. The energy of the trees is noticeable in the amount of saliva it immediately evokes in the mouth, creating a tiny universe under the tongue of whoever enjoys it. 

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Brewing guide