This Wu Liang Shan White tea is unique and experimental. It is made by the same tea maker that makes our Wu Liang Shan Pu Er Sheng Cha. Our heritage farm partner used the same old tree material (200-600 years old) to create this tea as the pu er tea. This year is our farmer's first year making this tea, and we're very impressed by it!
Wu Liang Shan means limitless, endless mountain. It is one of the two major mountains in the northern Yun Nan tea region and the location of this white tea. It is a natural reserve, home to many endangered species, including old tea trees. This tea is the most experimental white tea offering we have, where our pu er heritage tea farmer has created a white tea in the traditional Fu Ding technique.
We love this tea's tender texture, like olive oil and notes of chamomile and wildflowers. It is refreshing and delicately grassy.
White tea processing is similar to that of pu er in that they both use the sun for drying. So the transition of technique was understood by the tea maker. They did this tea using the traditional Fu Ding technique, which is very rare in Yun Nan and led to a much cleaner and sophisticated profile. Today in Yun Nan, popular new types of white tea such as Yue Guang Bai (Moonlight White) are more commonly made. The traditional Fu Ding methods that our tea maker used to create this white tea were first to allow freshly picked leaves and buds to wilted under shade to lose moisture. Then they are exposed to the sun for fermentation and drying. The loose-leaf teas are then finished by baking to dry with charcoal ash on bamboo trays, though if the sun is strong enough, the tea is dried by the sun. Making white tea is a lot like sailing; one has to work with the wind and the sun to ensure the fermentation of the leaves with these natural tools at a regulated rate.
