About this tea

This tea cake is produced by the artisans at the Wa Shan Ecological Tea Garden in Cangyuan county, on the border with Myanmar in southwestern Yunnan. The farmers grow a suite of specialty cultivars that produce exquisite teas in our Garden Direct collection, including Yunnan Purple Buds, Lily Black, and Honey Green. This tea cake is made from their most prominent cultivar, Mengku Broad Leaf, which is a strain of the ancient broad leaf assamica varieties that grows in the Mengku area of western Yunnan. The Wa farmers planted most of their gardens with Mengku Broad Leaf. The Mengku strain is prized for its mineral and green intensity, which transforms into crystalline sweet honey as the tea ages. We enjoy drinking this tea cake now using brief infusion times to control the bittersweetness. As the tea ages, the infusion time can be extended to draw out its naturally viscous sweetness.