The result of auspicious timing and efforts during our 2019 expedition to Yiwu, we were fortunate to forge connections with the He family. They are a distinguished and successful family in Yiwu township that pride themselves on their professionalism and integrity.  Our mission was to find a high quality, well-produced, semi-aged Yiwu tea that has been stored well.  Yiwu teas develop a remarkable sweetness to them as they age.  Read about why this is in our Yiwu blog.

The materials used for this 2016 易武正山 Yiwu Zhengshan 357 gram raw pu'er cake are first spring 头春 harvests mostly from terraced ecological gardens around the historic He household as well as around their production facilities, located 2 kilometers away from their home just outside of central Yiwu at about 1200-1300 meters above sea level.  They describe their gardens as 生态 shengtai (ecological garden) at their facilities where they also practice organic vegetable gardening and farm fish.  Some of the best food we experienced in Yunnan were the farm fresh meals cooked by their kitchen staff. The family is very fastidious about the condition of their storage and every one of their teas we have tried has held up clean.  This tea is no exception: expect that classic Yiwu feel with signature molten sweetness and remarkable soft, expanding texture.  We feel privileged to be able to serve this tea to our friends.

More on the He family: if you have checked out Jinghong Zhang's book Pu'er Tea: Ancient Caravans and Urban Chic then you are already familiar with the He family, as senior Mr. He is written about as a prominently featured tea producer that proves successful in his endeavors to retain the classic feel of the home production Yiwu tribute tea while meeting new QS standards by investing in new state of the art production facilities.  See both Mr. He and his son (who has now taken over the business) in this episode of Jinghong Zhang's fascinating mini documentary.