Puer might be the most well-known tea coming out of Yunnan these days, but that wasn’t always the case. Before puer’s popularity was renewed in the 2000s, the most commonly enjoyed tea locally, was green tea, usually from Simao. Even today, it’s more likely than not that the security guard, bus driver, police officer or store employee you’d encounter in Kunming still just threw some local green tea in their thermos to get them through the day. History aside, this green tea has a dense flavour, lasting fragrance and slight astringency. This tea uses first flush material, which emphasizes the sweetness and gives it a more delicate fragrance, with some vegetal and nutty notes. Overall, it makes for an excellent budget green tea that produces a pleasant and uncomplicated experience. For one of us, this tea represents a taste of childhood, growing up drinking dad’s thermos-brewed green tea. While this tea might not have the same cache as many puer, nor be something you want to store away for ageing, it’s just as representative of the taste of Yunnan. We recommend brewing this tea with 85-90c water (boiling works too) in a glass gongdaobei/pitcher and using a smaller amount of tea than you would for gongfu brewing. Something around 1 gram to 30ml of water should be good, but feel free to adjust this depending on taste (too bitter, use less tea; if too weak, use more). Brew the first infusion for around 1 minute, then keep topping up the pitcher as you please. Region: Simao, Yunnan Picking Period: March 1-7, 2026 $0.10/gram
