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Pre-qingming Sichuanese teas

March-harvested Meng Ding teas kept sealed and refrigerated for maximum freshness, like at a Sichuan wholesale market

2021 Rock Oolongs

the roast sufficiently christened into the leaf, our selection is now 15% off

Aged 2013 Bai Mu Dan

new old stock prime Zhenghe county lao bai cha

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Dimensions of White Tea, an Introduction

You might have heard of White Tea: "one year tea, three years medicine, seven years treasure.” But what allows white tea to transform so remarkably — into medicine, and then treasure as they say — after just a few years?

Autumn Puerh, here for the New Year

Our most ambitious release to date, and a truly collaborative production on multiple fronts... though this stunt wasn't pulled off without some casualties. What lessons are to be learned?

Tea as Ritual

Tea scholar, educator, and Rivers & Lakes community guest writer Miles Cramer pens an essay providing a tasteful glance at tea's journey through time as a ritual communion.

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🍵 quality 茶, simple + transparent
🏞 origin-sourced, only from farmers we know
🌏 yunnan | sichuan | fujian | taiwan // ships 🇺🇸
🍃 the latest leaves ↓

Here’s some top secret unreleased footage from o

Here’s some top secret unreleased footage from our 2019 Sichuan trip archives to get your attention while I talk about:
👉 How to keep your green tea fresh long past the spring 👈
Green tea — because of the way it is crafted — is one of the only teas that is best enjoyed closest to the date of its inception.
*ɴᴇʀᴅʏ ᴛᴇᴄʜɴɪᴄᴀʟ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴇʀʏ ʙᴏᴛᴛᴏᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ*
While this delectable green fresh taste holds somewhat steady throughout its remaining spring season, it quickly starts to fall off by the time hot summer months roll around. It’s a bit of a shame as the famous cooling energetics of green tea can prove to be a fitting beverage for these hot and humid moments.
Well aware of the inevitable plight of their ephemeral delicacy, tea market wholesalers in China can commonly be seen pulling their green tea out of long freezer chests attenuated to refrigerator temps. Ideally with its original seal at the time of packaging unbroken (and/or even vacuum-sealed), the leaves will retain their green freshness much longer than those that are room temp, seal broken.
This is of course the way we store the greens + yellows of our catalog and we recommend storing them in a sealable pouch in your refrigerator below 41°F for continuity of freshness.
Find all greens + yellow teas from Meng Ding mountain in Sichuan 15% off right now, only through the weekend. Enjoy the energetic cool down that these brews offer, still with the freshness sealed in from the time of its production.
2021 Meng Ding Gan Lu Green Tea
2021 Meng Ding Huang Ya Yellow Tea
2021 Meng Ding Mao Feng Green Tea
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* ᴀ ʜɪɢʜ ʜᴇᴀᴛ ᴘᴀɴ ꜰʀʏɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ 杀青 ꜱʜᴀ-Qɪɴɢ ᴡᴏᴋ ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜᴇʀɪɴɢ ꜱᴛᴇᴘ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴏᴛᴇꜱ ᴏᴘᴛɪᴍɪᴢᴇᴅ ʜɪɢʜ ꜰʀᴀɢʀᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴜᴛᴛɪɴᴇꜱꜱ ʙʏ ᴅᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀʟʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇꜱ’ + ʙᴜᴅꜱ’ ᴇɴᴢʏᴍᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴛᴀɪɴꜱ ᴀʟʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇʟʏ ᴅʀᴀᴍᴀ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴄᴀᴛᴇᴄʜɪɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴏʟʏᴘʜᴇɴᴏʟ ʀɪᴄʜ ᴘʜʏᴛᴏᴄʜᴇᴍɪꜱᴛʀʏ ᴇxᴘᴇʀɪᴇɴᴄᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀʟᴀᴛᴇ ᴀꜱ ꜱᴜʀꜰᴀᴄᴇ ᴛᴇɴꜱɪᴏɴ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴇᴡ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜱᴀᴍᴇ ᴇɴᴢʏᴍᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴄᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴠᴏɪᴅꜱ ᴀɴʏ ᴀɢᴇ-ᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ + ʟᴏɴɢ-ᴛᴇʀᴍ ꜱʜᴇʟꜰ-ꜱᴛᴀʙɪʟɪᴛʏ; ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴᴛ ᴍᴀᴛᴇʀɪᴀʟ ɪꜱ ᴅɪꜱᴀʙʟᴇᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴀꜱɪᴅᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴅᴇɢʀᴀᴅᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.
#riversandlakestea #greentea #gongfucha #sichuanhotpot #chengdu #sichuan #mengdingshan #mengdingganlu

Of all the other libations, habits, and practices

Of all the other libations, habits, and practices out there, why are we endlessly fascinated by Tea?
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Tea lands us back into ritual communion with the earth | while allowing for exploration of an exotic world/culture
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Tea is reverential, ceremonial, sacred, spiritual, and alchemical | while being unpretentiously functional, fashionably materialistic, dope af, and debaucherously narcotic
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Tea is intoxicating to the mind and body | while increasing connection to ourselves and others
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Tea grounds us into a deeply calming practice and ritual | while providing a sustainable source of stimulation and motivation
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Tea is simple and complex
cerebral and somatic
deep and shallow
premier and ancient
secular and political
esoteric and practical
introverted and extroverted
consumable and consuming
essential and luxurious
definable yet ultimately ungraspable
☁️
The closest we’ll get to understanding Tea is by acknowledging we don’t and continuing to make it a part of our daily lives.
What do you think?
#riversandlakestea

we all know the psychology behind giving something

we all know the psychology behind giving something away for free: no one seems to value it, no one shows up for it. But is it ethical to put into play the inverse effect — to overprice something to create more valuation in the mind of the user?
#tea #gongfucha #teamarketing #yixing #teapot #camelliasinensis #teaworld #teatime #marketing #valueyourself #oolong #puerh #chadao

帕沙山 Pasha mountain’s Hani (when referring

帕沙山 Pasha mountain’s Hani (when referring to themselves, Akha) people stuffing tea leaves and tea blossoms into bamboo, a celebration from last year during late summer/autumn.
You may recall we began carrying tea from Pasha mountain as an autumn release last year, to gauge interest in this ideally located but not very well known territory (between Nannuo and banzhang terroirs in Menghai county).
Enough of you responded positively to the tea that considerations for an official spring production were underway until prices for this up-and-coming tea mountain all of the sudden jumped twicefold, matching some of higher end prices seen in neighboring Hekai and Banpen! Pasha did not seem nearly as approachable, so this forthcoming 2022 spring tea release will unfortunately not feature 帕沙山
☁️☁️☁️
Luckily for us, during a recent inventory, a small amount of this autumn Pasha appeared, mistaken as another stash of slowly ripening, stored sheng pu.
So if you’ve been dismayed for the last several months at it’s sold-out status, for a brief time find this tea back in stock — it just might be the last affordable young sheng from pasha out there 😭
#pasha #menghai #shengpu #gushu #hani #akha #laobanzhang #yiwu #nannuo #yunnan #puerh #teaceremony #teatime #chadao #rawpuer #tea #camelliasinensis #gongfucha #gongfutea

Are you a post-jaded tea drinker? #teaceremony #

Are you a post-jaded tea drinker?
#teaceremony #chadao #gongfucha #teatime #camelliasinensis #gushu #blacktea #redtea #gaiwan #ceremony #spaceholder #ayahuasca #cacao #riversandlakestea #puerh #ceremonialgrade

Another awkward reminder that fragrant spring pu’er tea will be stateside soon for your hopefully not-too-late summer enjoyment.
Still enjoying the last of autumn banpen in the images above, preparing for a hot season of splashing and sipping
#riversandlakestea #puer #banpen #laobanzhang #nannuo #yiwu #gushu #gongfucha #tea #camelliasinensis #chadao #puerh #shengcha

Mr. Hé of Yiwu town (yellow shirt) and his posse

Mr. Hé of Yiwu town (yellow shirt) and his posse visiting the famous Bingdao area in Lincang prefecture. They’re there studying growing and leaf processing techniques.
Most pu’er producers worth their salt seek out continuing education and are experimental with their trade. This keeps pu’er a bit of a paradox: simultaneously a heritage artform reverent to tradition as well as a very modern, envelope-pushing craft.
Our beloved Dá É of Nannuoshan also travels in her off season to study with successful producers (including the Hé family). We’ll have both of their spring teas in stock very soon.
#riversandlakestea #lincang #puerh #bingdao #yiwu #nannuo #laobanzhang #rawpuer #gongfucha #tea #camelliasinensis #teatravel #mengku

New @m.e.cotterman wares not to be missed going on

New @m.e.cotterman wares not to be missed going on sale on her site tonight.
Mary will be pursuing educational opportunities outside of the tea industry, and this will be the final release of her astounding work.
She’s definitely leaving on an extraordinary high note: this is hands down her best work yet. Each piece is an original, finely crafted down to the minutiae, like an excellent teapot should be. Perfection. Do yourself a big self-love favor and collect one or two of these pots while you have the chance, and let’s send her off right by selling this release out!
Thank you for sharing your artistry and passion with us Mary!

Tea from the Yue family of Wuyishan. After this y

Tea from the Yue family of Wuyishan. After this year’s upcoming pu’er release, we’ll be focusing on Yancha.
#riversandlakestea #oolong #rockoolong #yancha #gongfucha #dahongpao #wuyishan

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