Wild White 2015 Reserve

This 2015 Wild White comes to us from one of our well-respected tea foragers, Mr. Fan, also aptly known as "Hunter."

It is made from trees planted by tea farmers in the 1970's that were abandoned as people left the villages for coastal cities. They grow amidst thousands of acres of old growth forest. Here, tea trees compete with a variety of other plants for sunlight, causing their roots to extend deep into the earth to draw nutrients. Some are so tall that villagers must prop ladders against their trunks to harvest their leaves.

Big White is an ancient varietal of tea tree, indigenous to Zhenghe, with origins tracing back to the Song Dynasty. If only the bud is picked, then the white tea would be a Silver Needle. Wild White "Big" consists of the bud, leaves, and stem, and is considered a Shou Mei.

White teas, especially a Shoumei grade, look rustic and full of vitality. They are well suited for aging, as they have nutrients in them that develop character over time, and pressing them into a cake as Hunter has done here encourages an effective aging process. (A common saying suggests that at 3 years white tea becomes a medicine, and at 7 years, a treasure. This tea is now at an age that it would be considered both!)

The tea is made following local traditional craftsmanship, which involves slow, indoor drying. It was indoors for 18 days before being pressed into cakes, and has not been sun-dried, baked, or even roasted over charcoal. The cakes are beautiful to look at, displaying the tonal array of various stages of oxidation, while maintaining a sheen on account of such delicate handling.

As you might expect, this is a deeper white tea: we taste more earth matter, burnt sugars, and cooked fruit — all qualities that come with age. It is grounding, slightly tannic, and warming, evolving through infusions with an even temper — another attribute of age, or wisdom.