A sweet, creamy, and nutty profile succinctly delivers the characteristics of this Sichuanese delicacy with ease.  Perhaps the only style in Western China to rival the more fashionable greens of the east coast, top grade all-handmade iterations like this one make it easy to see why the mountain that lays claim to the birthplace of tea cultivation over 2000 years ago is still as relevant as ever.

Meng Ding Gan Lu currently isn’t defined by originating from a single cultivar. A 2023 study by Guo, Wang, and Li studied the 12 main cultivars used to produce Gan Lu and found that 老川茶 Lǎo Chuān Chá (Old Sichuan tea) and 福选 9 号 Fú xuǎn 9 hào (Fuxuan no.9) to be the most ideal cultivars. While Lao Chuan Cha was preferred overall, Fuxuan no.9 was the runner-up providing more harvest predictability and yield without compromise to the similarly robust flavor and aroma profile, giving the market an optimized Gan Lu that doesn’t break the bank. While the super early flushing yet otherwise poor performing Fuxuan No.4 comprises an astounding half the area of the Mengshan production region, Fuxuan no.9 occupies about 10%.

We are proud to offer the Guo family’s Gan Lu from their No. 9 gardens in the Niu nian ping area on the slopes of Meng Ding Mountain at 700 meters, processed all by hand, identically to their high-end heirloom Gan Lu derived from Lao Chuan Cha bushes.

Notable is the meticulous process that these early flush sprouts undergo.  Sprouts are carefully monitored and harvested just 5-6 days after initially emerging.  After the tiny sprouts are withered, the production features 著名的三炒三揉制茶工艺 (“the famous three-fired, three-kneaded tea making process”) a method that coaxes out flavor by frying the leaves in a high-temperature wok for short times before rolling/bruising them three separate times as a set, before being dried.  This process accentuates flavors and aromas, as well brings all of the tea oils to the surface, unlocking them ahead of time for an exquisite first brew.

due to the thrice fired / thrice rolled method, pickings of bud-and-one-tiny-leaf have now been delicately unfurled and expressed as the bud "unclasps" its inner layers, a signature of well-processed Gan Lu

Teas like this are often booked in advance by upper class tea enthusiasts ahead of time and typically would never make it to the tea world of the West.  Indeed, we are fortunate to have such a connection in Mr. Zheng, a retired government official of Ya'an whom we connected with during our time in the area in 2019.