A really nice tea from one of my favorite new areas we are working with.

Y Tý is a beautiful tea area in Lào Cai province right on the border with China. There are two villages that have old tea trees here, one is inhabited by H’Mông people and the other Dao.

This cake is made with old/ ancient tree material from both the Dao and H’Mông villages pressed together. The ratio of the tea in the cakes is about 3:2 H’Mông village: Dao village. Drinking tea from the two areas separately is interesting of course but I actually prefer drinking the two tea areas together as I think their profiles really complement each other well. 

The Dao village tea area is about a 45 minute walk from the village up through a forest of wild bamboo. The bamboo forest eventually ends and you reach the tea gardens. There are many old and ancient trees here but many have been pruned heavily to produce buds for silver needle tea. There are still about 15 trees that have been left to grow naturally and produce some really excellent puerh tea! The weather here is often quite sunny and dry and the soil is rocky and sandy. 

The H’Mông village has some really old and tall trees growing on slopes near the border with China. The weather here is more humid and there are many forest trees growing amongst the tea trees here providing shade. The leaves from this area are a bit darker green than the Dao village. The soil is also more clay rich and fertile. The owner of these gardens said that in the past, there were tea trees covering the entire hillside but weren’t harvested until only the past 10-20 years. The locals chopped many of these trees down due to a lack of demand for tea but luckily there are still some that survived and many of which were left to grow semi-naturally.

This tea brews up into a rich golden brew. Heavily sweet with notes of cane sugar, meadow flowers, herbal medicine and deep forest flavors. Strong mineral note that builds after a few steeps with low-medium bitterness and astringency. Lasting huigan and strong relaxing qi.

This tea goes many rounds. Set aside an hour if possible to fully enjoy this one.
 
190g cakes ($0.24/ gram)

Season: Spring 2024
Picking Standard: 1 bud, 2-3 leaves
Region: Y Tý, Lào Cai
Elevation: 1600-1800m