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Taste & body
Spring 2025, first flush Old natural tea gardens, older plantations Strong upfront and long-lasting sweetness, very juicy This tea really packs a punch. Depending on how you brew it, it will come out very different. On the lighter side, it will be fragrant and ethereal; keep it in the gaiwan for longer and it will punch you in the mouth with its astringency. This mengku tea is an outlier in our collection. In 2025, it tastes more refined than what we offered in 2021 and 2023. It's an upfront tea, it doesn't feature much in terms of Cha Qi or depth, it's more about the fragrance and the mouthfeel. In this area, it does deliver, it is an entertaining experience. Astringency is heavy but feels adequate for this kind of style. Get this if you want something different from our usual suspects. Dong Guo, an overlooked village in West Mengku Dong Guo is located on the Western Mountain of Mengku, halfway between Xiao Hu Sai and Bingdao. The place is covered in tea gardens growing between 1500m and 2000m of altitude. A first glance at the village shows large factories which process tea in big machines. It seems the area specialized in making cheap high altitude tea to supply the large tea companies of Mengku. Fortunately, we found a very special producer who was among the few not having machines. The processing is made in woks and the factory looked very professional, despite its small size. Like in other villages of Mengku, some farmers decide to open their own small workshop and sell high quality tea to small buyers instead of selling their fresh leaves to the larger processing units. Here, they used the best leaves available from the few older gardens cultivated in Dong Guo. We are happy to offer this tea which highlights the potential of this area. Unlike Bingdao and Xiao Hu Sai, Dong Guo has no prestige, you only pay for the tea here. Yet their good material won't be on par with the famous places if it's processed in a big machine. Close to this large village is a small hamlet called Mo Lie. This one has become famous and expensive in the past years. Despite the close distance, the price difference is fourfold. We decided to settle on the cheaper option with a good processing, and the result is very satisfying. You will find a lot of qualities to this tea. It is on the aggressive side, it's a tea that will grab your palate and fill it with high-pitched fragrance, a moderate bitterness and plenty of sweetness. A tasting profile different from Bingdao and Xiao Hu Sai which show how diverse Mengku tea can be. For a general introduction about Mengku area, check our youtube video: f
