YA BAO Ancient & Wild Raw Pu'er Cake from TianTang Shan National Forest, BAOSHAN.
by Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea Company Taiwan
Season: Spring 2023
Origin: TianTang Shan, Baoshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province China
Tree Variety: Wild Big Leaf Variety
Tree Age: up to 1000 years
We last carried this tea in spring 2020, and are happy to finally be able to offer it again.
These cakes were pressed under the label of Chun Ri Shan Lan by Hsieh Jiang Lin Tea Company of Taiwan.
The buds were picked from old growth wild tea trees, the oldest of which are reputedly 1000-years-old. There was only a total of 30 kg harvested in total this year.
Unlike other types of tea, Ya Bao consists of early season branching buds - the buds that will grow into tea tree branches. Very few buds are harvested per tree and the process of collecting them is very time consuming.
The tea itself is quite unique in aroma and flavour, unlike anything else. A deeply layered tea with hints of rose and fruit in the aroma, the flavour is soft and refreshing but also rich. The tea can be brewed like pu'er or like a gentle Chinese green tea (eg. Longjing). Ya Bao is excellent for adding to a thermos. The tea itself can be steeped for a long time without becoming bitter or astringent. It also lasts many steeps if you are making it gongfu style.
Processed similarly to raw pu'er, the buds have been pressed into cakes of 200g each. We have only a few of these available, and unfortunately we cannot renew our supply once they are sold out.