For those who’ve been following our tea journey over the years, it will come as no surprise when we say that we have a special feeling for Yiwu teas. Amongst Yiwu area teas, we also have a special appreciation for Guafengzhai village teas. Amongst Guafengzhai teas, the unmistaken champion are teas from Chawangshu (King of the tea trees) garden.
Since 2011 we’ve been pressing teas from Chawangshu. Even in the years when we haven’t pressed cakes from there, we’ve been going to Guafengzhai, drinking teas and hanging out with the farmers, both in and out of tea season. Attending weddings, helping farmers when they’re sick and needing hospital treatment, hosting them when they visit Kunming and lots of hanging out and drinking tea. Our friendships came together through tea, but extends beyond tea.
I say this to give a little background. As we’ve proved to ourselves again and again over the years, making good tea entails much more than just showing up in a village and going from door to door asking for samples to taste from farmers. It’s about long term relationships, mutual trust and much more than a financial transaction. As a tea buyer, if you slow down and sit at a farmers house for some days in the tea season, the picture becomes clearer. The farmers save their best teas for those long term customers who support them year after year. You’ll see tea buyers turn up and taste tea - the samples that the farmers bring out for them aren’t their best teas, but the teas they will have more difficulty selling.
This year the weather was unusually dry, yields were down in general by a lot, but these teas growing in the pristine forest environment were less negatively affected by the drought and conversely were more concentrated, rich and vibrant than in previous years.
This tea is excellent. It’s clean, rich, smooth and powerful. It transforms quickly in the mouth and lingers elegantly in the throat. For lovers of high-end Yiwu area tea, you won’t be disappointed for sure.
