2021 Hua Zhu Liang Zi Sheng Pu'er Bing ( 滑竹梁子生普洱餅, Huá Zhú Liáng Zǐ Shēng Pǔ'ěr Bǐng, "Slippery Bamboo Ridge Raw Pu'er Bing") In the summer of 2021, our Yunnan tea farmer Li Shulin lost his home and all his tea processing equipment when his house burned down. Lacking the ability to produce tea in Nannuo Mountain, his home, he traveled to the farms of various friends and relations around Xishuangbanna. There he produced small batches of autumn-harvested tea from his friends' farms, mostly sheng pu'er but also some shu. Some of these farms are located on famous tea mountains, some are more obscure, but collectively they represent a tour of Xishuangbanna. In the winter of 2021 he pressed these limited production batches into 40 gram bings, which we are excited to be able to offer now after a year and a half of aging.
Hua Zhu Liangzi means "Slippery Bamboo Ridge" and is a small community in Mengsong, about two hours north of Nannuo Mountain. Of the 6 sheng cakes from this series, Hua Zhu Liangzi is the sweetest. Its softness and brown sugar/marshmallow notes on the empty cup make this a great introductory sheng for those who may be put off by the bitterness of sheng. It is bright with no hint of grassiness and conspicuously lacking astringency.
