Milky, thick, biscuity, full, Mahei ancient tree tea with its honey orchid sweetness exemplifies why Yiwu is called the “queen of pu’er”.  Having earned a devoted following, this tea has earned a place in the annual Yunnan release for the last four years.

The session entrance yields a well-structured mouthfeel giving sweet, bready profile with complexity on the backend.  Mid-session the tea soup expands on the palate and starts doling out what is so remarkable about Mahei: a thick, viscous, lubricating heavy sweetness without any bitterness or astringency.  Pick up a couple of cakes while they're still around: one for drinking and one for aging.

Mahei is a village belonging to the greater Yiwu / Mansa mountain area, just 3 miles north of Yiwu town along the ridge of the same mountain range.  While serving as one of the first higher-end representatives for classic Yiwu taste, Mahei has for some time achieved a following all its own.  As the surrounding area has a decent supply of conventionally-managed plantation material, farmer-producers are incentivized to pass it off as higher-end Mahei tea or pin pei in with the gushu, pure ancient tree material can be hard to come by.

While the Hé family back in Yiwu has access to neighboring Luo Shui Dong's prime materials through a cooperative, in Mahei they are fortunate to have direct relatives that supply them.  Enter in Xinping’s cousin Xiongping “Xiao He” and his family.  Senior Mr. Hé, Xinping’s father, grew up in Mahei to later move to Yiwu, Xiao Hé’s father stayed back in Mahei to raise a family. While the Hé family’s Heshi Tianneng brand has expanded to offer teas from gardens beyond what they personally operate for some time now, they still offer the teas that put their brand’s reputability on the map, namely from these original family Mahei gardens.

Cousin Hé manages 6 acres of mountainside ancient gardens above his house, the top of which is his own corner of the acclaimed 石门坎 Shi Men Kan area, considered the most prized micro-terroir in Mahei, of which only a couple of dozen families have access to.  Since Cousin He’s gushu directly downhill that conjoins Shimenkan can’t demand the eye-watering prices associated with the name, the tea between 1350-1400 meters along this mountainside is most preferable.

The view from the Hé family's living room. Behind the mountains is Gua Feng Zhai, on the border of Laos.