Tea: Bao Tang Solidarity Huazhuliangzi Raw Puer Mini Type: Raw Puer (生普洱） Harvest: Autumn 2023 + 2025 Press Date: Autumn 2025 Region: Boatang, Huazhuliangzi, Mengsong, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Tasting Notes: Gardenia, Pine Sap, Dried Mango, Rock Salt, Manuka Honey These minis are made from the same material as the Bao Tang Solidarity Tea Cake. The cake marks one of our first completely transparent profit-sharing initiatives. The minis however are excluded from this profit sharing due to the small amount of revenue they actually generate. While we still bought the material from Tan at a fair domestic price, we won't be splitting 50% of these proceeds with him. To support the farmer in a deeper way, check ou the full cake, if it is sold out, then these minis serve as a commemoration of the effort, and a capsule of the excellent blend of Bao Tang Puer. This tea is a blend of Autumn arboreal material that the farmer Tan has had piling up in his small production facility in Boatang Village, on the Huazhu Liangzi mountain in central Xishuang Banna. Tan makes the Riptide Wild Black Tea cake, the old Motorbike and Tree Spirit puer tea cakes, and we used a lot of his gushu tea material in the Old Salt and Kallisti tea cakes. One tea however that he has not been able to sell is his autumn teas, so this year we worked with him to create this special profit-sharing tea cake using autumn material from several different years to create a fragrant, mellow, and mildly aged raw puer tea that surprises us at the humble price point. This tea is both juicy and floral. While Autumn tea is often considered inferior to spring tea, and can be bought at a significantly cheaper price, this tea is an outstanding over-performer. The dry leaves already advertise what is in store, rich with fruit and flower fragrances. When hit with hot water, the juicy notes explode on the wet leaves, while the tea soup is a savory blend of saline floral notes with some rock sugar or dry honey sweetness. This tea might have broken our prejudice on autumn tea because it is a phenomenal tea that surprises us due to its very cheap price. Perhaps it is the environment, the blend, the addition of some aged material, but this tea turned out very impressive indeed.
