• handmade item

• materials: big-leaved arbor tea leaves from the mountain of Jingmai

• shape: cake

• dimension: diameter 18.5 cm / 7.28 in

• weight: 380 g / 13.40 oz

Handmade with tea leaves picked from Jingmai mountain in the first spring of 2013, this sheng pu-er brews bright golden liquor with a heady orchid aroma and woody, leafy, mineral flavours, which are reminiscence of the wilderness of Jingmai mountain. Concentrated nutrients from the first spring picks of 2011 allow this tea to have a great potential to post-fermentation in storage.

In the Lancang Lahu autonomous county in southwestern Yunnan province, Jingmai Mountain has an 1800-year history of man-cultivated tea. Ancient tea gardens span an area of 18.67 sq km of land. Jingmai means “new city” in the Dai language. Jingmai mountain is considered one of the top production regions of ancient tree pu-er, even though being located outside of Xishuangbanna prefecture. Initially, there were no tea trees on the mountain. In the 7th century, the first Bulang chieftain in Jingmai village, named Bayanleng, directed his people to tea tree planting. Bayanleng was a leader of great vision. Once he explained to the tribe, “If I leave you with livestock, they may die from diseases; if I leave you with gold and silver, they will be used up; only if I leave you all with tea trees, they can sustain our descendants and will never be depleted.” His people took his word. Generations of persistence and hard work generated what we see now – mountain after mountain of ancient tea trees that rank Jingmai on the top of the world’s list for its scale, area and production of ancient tree pu-er.