Origin: Cangyuan county, Yunnan province, China
Cultivar: Mengku Da Ye Broad Leaf + Fengqing Da Ye Broad Leaf
Elevation: 1600-1800m
Harvest:
March-April 2022 This tea has a ripe and fruity flavor with a robust sweetness and malty finish. The unique fragrance of this tea reminds one of aromatic fox grapes, wild rose and classic muscatel.
Shaihongcha means “Sun-dried Red Tea” and is probably the original way of producing red tea using the Sun’s light and energy to finally dry the tea. This natural drying method predates the modern and more widespread practice of oven drying tea. The sunlight and slow rate of natural drying creates a uniquely sweet fermentation taste and aromatic profile that only the Sun’s natural UV can produce in tea.
This Sun-Dried Red Tea Cake is from a Wa ethnic village on the border of Lincang, Yunnan and Burma that we have worked with for the past decade for red tea and Pu’er tea. This region is remote and has some very old trees. The local people established a larger plantation by planting the seeds from ancient trees in 1903, so most of the trees are widely spread out and more than 100 years old. Some Yunnan tea experts we traveled with in this area mentioned that most of this plantation is related to the
Mengku Da Ye Zhong type of broad leaf tea.
Traditional PreparationChip the cake carefully with a pick or Pu’er dagger.
Add 7g - 8g to a Gaiwan or Gongfu teapot (per 150ml-200ml).
Use 212°F boiling water.
Briefly rinse leaves for 5 seconds. Decant and discard this rinse infusion. Proceed to infuse the tea using boiling water. Enjoy each infusion individually and savor the flavors of each round.
Decant 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th infusions after 45 seconds. The tea infuses fast and gives out its strength in the beginning of the session. Brew the tea several times until the taste weakens. Increase the infusion time to your taste preference after you become familiar with the tea.