2021 Tian Men Shan Sheng Pu'er Bing (天门山生普洱餅, Tiān Mén Shān Shēng Pǔ'ěr Bǐng, "Heaven's Gate Mountain 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.
Tian Men Shan means "Heaven's Gate Mountain" and is near Yiwu, in the east of Xishuangbanna, very close to the border with Laos. A very balanced tea, its character is fruity and woody, with a medium amount of pleasant Sheng bitterness. The qi is evocative of "morning light through a window" - ascendant, calm, unfolding.
