Duyun Maojian "Spring Tip"

Duyun is the name of a small mountainous village in remote Guizhou Province, southwest of China. Tuanshan Mountains, one hour from Duyun, sits among high mountain gorges interspersed with gentle slopes and hills that are covered by clouds year-round. It is one of the few remaining places in the region that maintains indigenous, heirloom varietal tea trees.

These trees are offsprings of wild ancient tea trees. Some have grown to be a century old. They are protected in groves that grow a considerable distance from the village, but require hours of hiking on mountain trails to reach.

In late April, after the garden teas have all finished, the wild trees are harvested. The villagers who venture to collect their leaves follow a one-bud-one-leaf and one-bud-two-leaf standard. The leaves are brought back to the village where they are crafted into Biluochun by hand. After roasting, the tea is sealed in cold storage for roughly two weeks, allowing any remaining astringency to fade and its aroma to settle and develop more complexity.

An old Guizhou saying compares drinking Biluochun to drinking chicken broth. This is not on behalf of its taste, as this tea is still quite sweet and fruity, but because of its powerful mouthfeel and medicinal nature. On account of the ancient trees used to make it, this is a particularly rooted spring green tea, and a delicate trip into the deep energetics of old grove tea trees. It is not as cooling or upwardly stimulating as other fresh green teas, so we consider it unusually grounding and supportive to the body for a green tea.

The dark, fine spindles smell sweet and caramelized in the warm gaiwan. It tastes nutritive, with persistent mineral notes, accumulating weight in the mouthfeel as infusions progress, then finishing with a soft, lingering licorice taste. It feels like a pu'erh without its ferment, and a green tea without its youthful reverberation. An excellent choice for support staying grounded and connected through transitional seasons.