Huo Di Raw Pu-erh Tea 2021 is a single garden raw pu-erh tea made exclusively from one small tea garden.
Single Garden Tea
Huo Di is the name of a tea garden owned by a tea farmer with whom we have a relationship. Those who have purchased the limited edition white tea may have heard this name.
Huo Di is an old tree tea garden located at an altitude of about 2100m in the southwestern part of Lincang. The trees are on average several hundred years old, and the garden is maintained without fertilizers or pesticides. The high altitude, tree age, and non-fertilized cultivation result in very high-quality tea in terms of raw material.
We do not source from local wholesalers or tea factories, but rather directly from the producers who own the tea gardens. This allows us to classify tea at the garden level and offer single garden tea.
Huo Di Raw Pu-erh Tea Composed of Top Buds
The tea is usually made from raw materials harvested around mid-April, focusing on apical buds. Old tea trees generally have high market value. Therefore, farmers typically blend the apical buds with the side buds harvested about a week later. However, the producer we work with owns a particularly large tea garden in the area and is unable to keep up with tea plucking every year. As a result, they unintentionally harvest only the apical buds, creating a luxurious situation.
Sustainable Huo Di Raw Pu-erh Tea Garden Without Pesticides and Fertilizers
The tea garden is completely free of fertilizers and pesticides, and is maintained with minimal care throughout the year. Farmers only perform minimal maintenance, such as cutting grass before tea plucking, allowing the tea trees to grow naturally. Such gardens are considered sustainable, meaning the tea trees adapt naturally as part of the surrounding ecosystem and maintain a very healthy state. The health of the tea can be felt in its transparency, richness, and length of aftertaste.
Additionally, Huo Di has very good sun exposure throughout the garden, resulting in a refreshing and clear taste and flavor whether processed as white tea or raw pu-erh tea.
Due to several years of aging, the dried tea leaves already have a very sweet fragrance. When brewed, the tea has a grape-like flavor with subtle notes of sugarcane and pomelo—reminiscent of white wine, making it easy for beginners to enjoy.
Raw Pu-erh Tea Where Raw Material is Important
Raw pu-erh tea is processed at a lower temperature than green tea, retaining many of its compounds without oxidation. This results in a very gentle mouthfeel and allows the individual character of the raw material to come through. In other words, the most important element in enjoying pu-erh tea is the "raw material." The higher the quality, the longer the aftertaste and the clearer the flavor. High-quality tea has a high polyphenol content and is suitable for aging. Raw pu-erh tea develops a sweet flavor when aged. We recommend aging in an oxygen-free environment to bring out the sweet, fruity flavor.
Some people may have the preconceived notion that pu-erh tea is bitter and astringent, but much of this comes from second flush or later harvests, and from low-altitude or conventionally cultivated tea. In contrast, first flush pu-erh tea from high altitudes has a gentle mouthfeel and a rather sweet taste.
Focus on Sourcing Naturally Cultivated Tea
Since 2010, we have been visiting Yunnan Province every spring. Over the years, we have built connections with many famous tea regions. However, our focus is not on a region's fame, but rather on tea with transparency and a long-lasting aftertaste. To achieve this, we focus on remote mountain villages, selecting tea gardens with ancient tea trees, high altitudes, and no fertilizers, sourcing through unique logistics channels. For more details, please visit the following page.
In Yunnan, teas claiming to be from famous regions are produced in thousands of locations, using leaves from other areas, and can be found everywhere—from airports and convenience stores to supermarkets.
What complicates matters is the surprising phenomenon where imitation teas made from leaves in remote areas are of higher quality than the genuine articles. This is especially common with Pu-erh teas from Lincang, and it is a well-known fact among professionals involved in local sourcing. For more details, please visit the following page.
In Yunnan Province, there are long-established brands like Dayi and Zhongcha. These brands are renowned because their teas produced before 1990 are highly valued.
So why are these older teas considered special? Many people assume it's due to long aging, but in reality, the tea leaves used at that time were naturally grown without fertilizers, resulting in their superior quality.
Therefore, even if current teas are aged for a long time, they will not reach the same quality. For more information, please visit the following page.
