From the same tea garden on Nan Nuo Shan as the 2016 Nan Nuo.

Some Mao cha from 2019 which I'd forgoten about. At the beginning of 2021 I was sorting out my storage and came across it. It was pressed in February. This is the first time trying it.

The wet leaves give off an initial fermented-leathery aroma. The broth, for now at least, sits somewhere between boozy-yeasty and Herbal-leathery but also with tobacco notes. The 'gong dao bei' has tobacco-floral notes which turn buttery as it cools and shifts into something more minty.

It's not particularly bitter, but if steeping times are pushed there's some distinct bitterness that shows itself. It transforms quickly and is accompanied by a pleasing amount of 'sheng jin' along with some sweetness.

It looks like it's turning out to be a quite respectable autumn tea.

The trees don't qualify as 'da shu' or old tea trees, but the tea has many of the qualities of old tree tea: some decent body and some 'hou yun'.

The tea was processed by the same tea farmer who made our Ban Po Lao Zhai ancient tree tea. Pressed in 200g cakes.

All Puer teas are hand picked, fired and rolled, or sometimes machine rolled. They are sun dried. Cakes are stone pressed.

Please be aware that because raw Puer tea is a 'post-fermented' tea it is in a process of continual change: as it ages, but also from season to season and even day to day, so the description here is a snapshot of the tea's quality and character, which should not differ significantly, but which none-the-less can change.