The flagship gushu, the old reliable, the annual return of the tea that inspired Rivers & Lakes to become a thing.

Dá É’s ancient tree gardens in Old Stone Village produce a strong yet well-balanced Menghai experience that is responsive to brewing style: a total softie under a light touch but able to punch back when leaned into. With wildflower aromatics, a thick + milky texture, bitterness that transforms into sweetness, and a light returning sweetness in the throat, there are plenty of entertaining dimensions to this cake to study or relax into.

hanging with Dá É and her son MuMu in their stone village ancient gardens

Hidden in plain sight

Right off the highway between Menghai city and the capital of Xishuangbanna, Jinghong, lies probably the most accessible pu’er producing area: Nannuo Mountain. For tourists, it may be the easiest place to snap a selfie with ancient trees, pose with tribal folk, and pick up a token pu’er cake. For elite connoisseurs seeking rare teas from remote villages, however, Nannuo seems way too obvious and easy, therefore it’s often one of the first dismissed. But if you venture past the roadside stops and into the villages tucked further into the mountain range, you can find outstanding gardens and talented producers who aren’t charging hype prices. I believe Nannuo Mountain isn’t just a gateway tea mountain—it’s a source of high quality tea hidden in plain sight.

A bit down the road from Shitou Laozhai Old Stone Village heading back towards Banpo New Village, Dá É's ancient tree gardens are halfway up from the road to the top of Banpo ridge, on a steep western facing slope. Some folks think teas grown on the eastern side can sometimes be more floral, bitter/astringent, punchy, while the western side will be a bit softer, sweeter, and fuller, packed with tea flavor. Is it as simple as more earlier-in-the-day eastern sun exposure vs later exposure on the west? We're not sure.

In an otherwise dry season, there was a nice rain in Mid-March which fueled some early growth in Nannuo this year.  After tasting each day's batch, we decided to go for the tea harvested on the cusp of Late March / Early April.

Watch us select this tea and tell this family's story in this video below:

Rivers & Lakes has been working with Dá É since 2019

This family still prefers to begin their killgreen with a wok temperature of 280-300C tops. This leaves some enzymes alive to age as well as makes for an ideal blend of fragrant pop and mellow soupiness right out of the gate

Dá É and MuMu live in the house MuMu's grandfather, Yang Kaidan, built in the same neighborhood as the historic Nannuo Mountain Tea Factory No. 1, seen on the leftside of this aerial. The factory opened in the 1930s, and Mr. Yang managed the factory for forty years, from 1954-1994.