Tang Jia Raw Pu-erh Tea is made from spring tea grown in western Lincang, at a high altitude of 2000–2100m.
The tea has a very deep finish with a smooth mouthfeel. It has a sweet, grassy note with a honey-like flavor, and a hint of fruitiness that lingers on the palate.
Tang Jia means "Tang Family" in Chinese, named after the family that owns the tea garden. Tang Jia tea garden is an ancient tea garden with a vast number of large tea trees, yet nobody had plucked tea there until 2018. The garden had been left unattended for nearly 30 years.
Ancient Tea Garden Left Unattended for 30 Years
Long ago, the Tang family made their living from tea. However, ever since the current Mr. Tang took over the family business, he shifted to goat and cattle grazing. In Yunnan, cattle and goats raised on wild grass in high mountain areas are in very high demand. Even cattle raised in enclosures in high mountain villages are popular, fetching prices as high as RMB 10,000. Naturally, free-range cattle are much more expensive. As a result, the livestock grazing business is very popular among villagers. We have noticed that quite a number of tea garden owners have abandoned their gardens to take up livestock grazing.
Initially, Mr. Tang expected his wife to manage the tea farming while he focused on grazing. However, his wife was unwilling to work in the tea garden, as they already had sufficient income. Eventually, the tea gardens were left unattended for many years. A few years ago, Mr. Tang and his wife divorced.
Here, we are trying to touch one of the baby goats. Mr. Tang is now about 50 years old and has remarried. His new wife came to Yunnan from Guo Gan, Myanmar, as a refugee. Guo Gan is only about 50km from the Yunnan border and had been in a civil war for quite some time—a conflict between ethnic minority groups and government forces. Due to the conflict, many villagers fled to Yunnan as refugees. In Zhenkang County, which directly borders Myanmar, we often encounter them. Nowadays, it is quite common for villagers in Lincang to marry women from Myanmar.
To everyone's surprise, Mr. Tang's new wife (shown above) turned out to be extremely hardworking. She willingly went to the tea garden and cleared the undergrowth by hand. Before the other villagers had noticed, she had revived Tang Jia tea garden within half a year. Because she worked so effectively, she became well known among the neighbors. Nowadays, neighbors often call Tang Jia tea garden "the Myanmar wife's tea garden." She started plucking tea in 2018. However, there were many people interested in the teas from her garden. Since it had been left unattended for 30 years, everyone knew her tea would be exceptional. Due to its high popularity, we only managed to purchase a very small quantity in 2018 and introduced it in Malaysia. In 2019, we decided to rent her garden to secure quality raw material for our tea. Our tea producer happens to be a relative of the Tang family. So, we approached them through our producer and succeeded in renting Tang Jia garden. Sadly, they only agreed to a one-year contract. Following local customs, anyone who rents a garden pays a lump sum for the full year's rental. In addition, tea pluckers are paid according to the market rate. Essentially, the rental fee provides extra income for the tea garden owner.
Tang Jia tea garden after the Myanmar wife began caring for it.
Ancient Tea Trees in Tang Jia Garden
How the Compression Process Affects Quality
From experience, we have learned that the compression process greatly affects the quality of tea. We put a great deal of effort into managing this process. After the tea is processed into mao cha (loose tea), we immediately bring it down from the mountain and send it to a tea compression factory in town. Through years of experience, we have learned the critical control points in tea compression. We now have a thorough understanding of every detail we need to manage, including steaming, compression, drying, and even the material of the mold. Weather is a critical factor in drying tea cakes. We pay close attention to weather conditions and never proceed with compression in poor weather. We only work with small-scale producers so that they can carefully attend to our requirements and fulfill them. We believe we can produce a very ideal cake, not only in shape but also in flavor and taste.
Very Long-Lasting Aftertaste That May Leave You Tea Drunk
Tang Jia raw pu-erh tea is medium-bodied with a very long-lasting aftertaste. For now, since the tea is still relatively fresh, the flavor tends to be milder. It gives a sweet note reminiscent of sweet rice cake or fresh sugarcane. This tea contains an outstandingly high level of polyphenols, thanks to the ancient tea trees, absence of fertilizers, and high altitude. Based on our experience, tea with high polyphenol content ages well and quickly. It will develop a fruity, sweet honey flavor in a few years. We have kept a small amount of the Tang Jia Raw Pu-erh tea from our 2018 production. It has aged very well and now gives the flavor of fresh honey. In addition to the Tang Jia Raw Pu-erh, we also made two small batches of tea from three ancient trees in Tang Jia tea garden, called "Triple Trees Raw Pu-erh," available only in Malaysia.
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.
