Sourcing
We source tea for clients. This may be seasonally, from particular tea gardens of old or ancient tea trees producing single origin, high quality, low volume batches of green or raw Puer tea, sourced in early Spring or Autumn. We also source on an ongoing basis from existing stocks of young or aged tea. See purchasing for more details.
An Exploration
It is also increasingly common to look for hitherto unknown gardens of old and ancient tea trees. With this has come a renewed exploration of well known areas – almost every year there are ‘new’ tea gardens that have been found in areas that were previously overlooked or unexplored – and along with this a pushing out toward the more remote areas along Xishuangbanna’s borders with Laos and Myanmar.
The increasing interest and demand for quality raw Puer tea has had a two-fold effect. Amongst the better known tea gardens of Yunnan there is still good tea to be had, but to find it requires some luck or persistence, or both, as more people compete for a limited resource.
People and the Environment
The aim of this is to find unique teas from tea gardens that have not been over-managed or over-picked – where the trees are allowed to grow in a sustainable manner in a healthy environment, without the use of agro-chemicals. We not only encourage tea farmers to respect the resources under their guardianship but also respect them for what they do – helping enable them to realise tea production as a viable livelihood. The quality of their tea relates directly to their own quality of life.