Clean sweetness and a mineral calm that settles deeper with each steep. Old Grove '22 is a shu pu-erh (熟普洱), a fermented tea that trades raw-leaf bitterness for something dark and smooth. This one comes from gushu (old-growth trees, typically 100+ years) trees — old growth that has been rooting into Ming Feng Shan for decades, pulling up a character younger bushes cannot match. What You'll Taste Think herbal and earthy, like a quiet forest floor with something sweet underneath. The liquor pours dark amber with a dry, woody scent and a hint of dried flowers rising from the cup. First steeps land soft and silky, coating the mouth with gentle sweetness while a quiet bitterness flickers underneath. A woody note sits at the back of the tongue, and later rounds bring dried herbs and a long stony finish that stretches further each time. Old growth rooting into Ming Feng Shan for decades — that stony finish is what deep roots pull up. Where It Comes From Ming Feng Shan (鸣凤山) sits at 2,050 meters in Yongde, Yunnan, one of the quieter mountains in the Lincang Chinese tea region. Shao's family and their cooperative pick the large-leaf Mengku Daye buds each May from gushu trees here, old growth with deep roots that pull minerals from bedrock younger plantings never reach. That terroir comes through in the cup as a clean sweetness that sets gushu shu apart. How It's Made Shu pu-erh gets its dark, smooth character from wo dui. Producers pile the leaf in thick layers and let it heat from the inside while microbes break down bitterness over several weeks, turning sharp green leaf into something mellow and sweet. Old Grove's leaf handles this at a gentler pace than plantation material. The thicker gushu leaves carry more sugar, so the character from the old trees comes through in the cup instead of getting buried under heavy fermentation notes. Aging Potential This batch dates to May 2022, making it about four years old. The early sweetness has already settled, and a rounder, darker quality is building underneath. Gushu leaf carries a mineral backbone that deepens over years rather than fading, so each year of patience brings a smoother, more layered cup. Start with 25g or 50g. Both give you enough sessions to see how this tea opens up across steeps. If you have had lighter shu pu-erh and wonder what old-tree leaf brings to the cup, this is a good place to find out. Brewing Brew 5 grams in 100 ml of boiling water for 30 seconds — about a tablespoon of leaf. Pour a quick rinse first to open the leaves, discard that water, then start timing from the second pour. Extend each steep by a few seconds, and a 25-gram bag gives you four or more sessions with well over a dozen steeps in each one. FAQ What is shu pu-erh? Shu pu-erh is a fermented Chinese tea. Raw leaf goes through wo dui, a controlled process where piled leaves ferment for weeks until bitterness breaks down and the tea turns dark and smooth. Easier for beginners than raw (sheng) pu-erh. How is Old Grove different from Obsidian? Old Grove focuses on tree age and terroir. The flavor comes from gushu trees at 2,050 meters, and you taste that as a clean, structured cup. Obsidian '15 leans into a richer cocoa profile from Bulang Mountain leaf and eleven years of aging. What does gushu mean for how this tea tastes? Gushu (old-growth) trees root deep into undisturbed soil, pulling up a wider range of minerals than young plantation bushes. In the cup, that shows up as a cleaner, more structured sweetness with a long mineral finish — a quality that is hard to find in shu pu-erh from standard material. What is gushu pu-erh? Gushu means "old tree." In pu-erh, it refers to tea from trees that are decades or centuries old, with deep root systems that pull minerals from the soil. The difference shows up as a cleaner, more structured cup compared to plantation tea from younger bushes.
