Each spring we go all out for my perennial favorite style of tea: top shelf raw pu'er.

This year is no different, and I'm happy to announce that this array of terroirs, tree grades, and pricepoints is wide enough to be inclusive for the preferences of most pu'er heads out there.  Not only are there multiple cakes under 50¢/gram, but also some under $50/cake.  These proved a bit trickier to curate, as finding worthy raw materials with matching production quality at still approachable rates ain't so common.

These all hail from around Xishuangbanna prefecture, from the slappier, more focused profiles of the greater Menghai area west of the Lancang to the softer, elegant, more expansive textures found in the teas of the east side of the Lancang in the original six great tea mountains.

This pre-sale is a whole-cake-only early access for those not needing all the accompanying words and photos, let alone the time it can take for me to put the finishing touches on all of that.  It's for the folks that want to ensure they get a hold of what they want before they inevitably sell out.  If you know what you want based on previous years' favorites, I encourage you to go for it; the gods (southern Yunnan's weather) were good to us this year and this year's tea is quite choice.  Sample size options and the usual full product page format for each tea will be available in early September.

All of these are 200 gram raw pu'er cakes.  Let's outline what we're looking at:

Mahei Ancient Tree  Thick and queenly.  Tea from this garden has been offered for the last 4 years straight, as it's consistently proven to be an elevated and refined iteration of the greater Yiwu area.

Mahei Qiao Mu  Young arbor material that is naturally grown from seed, left unpruned, out of direct sun.  The most ideal young tree experience I've tried.

Wangong Ancient Tree  This coveted micro terroir rarity is next to impossible to get.  Folks lucky enough to grab some in 2023 will know.

Zhangjiawan 'Fire Garden'  Tea trees with truly massive trunks were razed to the ground after a fire sometime in the last 100 years.  Spindly boughs now splay out from their coppiced base in this remote and wild corner of Mengla County near Laos.  A favorite by many.

Lao Man'e State Forest  A new zone to us in Lao Man'e.  A few hundred meters in the mountains above the village is a fecund government-owned jungle territory with ancient tea trees.  A good bit sweeter than last year's bitter bruiser, but can still growl if pushed.

Pasha Ancient Tree  Dá É's friend Cuo Pa has ancient trees in Pasha Zhongzhai "Middle Village" bordering the core of the connoisseur coveted Rhino Pond area. Meaty and hefty.

Bakanan Ancient Tree  Tucked between Lao Banzhang and Lao Man'e, Bakanan has won over many a Southern Menghai / Banzhang taste enthusiast as a serious contender in this heavyweight division.

Bakalong Ancient Tree  The least well-known and most westerly, out of the way village of the Banzhang Five Villages, Bakalong has similar characteristics to Bakanan.  While it's the most affordable taste of Banzhang, it's no slouch.

Nannuo Big Tree  Gardens planted in the 1930s near Dá É's old production facilities produce some nice small experimental batch teas.  A more punchy and bright Nannuo experience.

Nannuo Ancient Tree Dá É's Old Stone Village gardens tucked deep in the southwest corner of the Nannuo Mountains.  Daily drinker gushu all day and longest standing annual pu'er offering in the catalog.

Nannuo Ancient Tree Red  The hong cha "black tea" version of the same ancient tree material used in the raw pu'er listed above.  100 gram cake form.

Banpo Select Trees  Banpo Laozhai is Nannuo Mountain's most established base and preferred taste by many. Dá É's uncles has extensive acreage here and we commissioned a 挑采 tiao cai “selective picking” of tea from 80 or so of the largest specimens in these gardens for an especially thick and dimensioned Nannuo experience.  Returning from its debut back in 2023.

Yiwu Ancient Tree  This Yiwu proper "zhengshan" ancient tree tea hails from the He family's ancestral "661" gardens on the slopes right at the edge of Yiwu town.  Yiwu ancient tree tea at this nearly daily drinker price is almost unheard of.

MENGHAI BUNDLE  3 cakes: Nannuo Ancient Tree, Pasha Ancient Tree, and Bakalong Ancient Tree sold as a discounted set.

YIWU BUNDLE  3 cakes: Yiwu Ancient Tree, Mahei Ancient Tree, and Zhangjiawan 'Fire Garden' sold as a discounted set.

Some photos from our time in the mountains of southern Yunnan earlier this spring: