Peacock Bing 孔雀生普洱并 (kongque sheng pu'er bing) is a fresh sheng pu'er produced by master Li Shulin. Produced in the traditional Akha processing style, the leaves are first cooked soon after harvesting and then massaged to soften the leaves and break up the cell walls before being cooked again and sun dried. This cooking and massaging process can be repeated multiple times, and results in a finished product that is more oxidized, darker, and better optimized for storage and aging than modern methods that may omit the massaging step.
Li Shulin moved to Man Le after losing his home on Nannuo Mountain to a fire in 2021. While he still produces Nannuo tea, he has added the unique and little-known tea of Man Le to his repertoire. Man Le is close to the city of Menghai, and was once the site of a government-owned tea farm in the 1950's. Although official cultivation ended in the 1960's, many of the original tea arbors still stand, and the new-growth pine forest that blankets the landscape is filled with a mix of these old tea trees and their descendants, as well as the wild tea plant population.
The terroir of Man Le has a hint of resinous pine in its profile and produces some of the sweetest sheng pu'er, shu pu'er, moonlight white and sun-dried red teas that we've tried. This cake is no exception, with a malty honey-forward profile and low astringency. It features a peacock as a nod to the Dai culture. Man Le is a Dai village, and the Dai ethnicity venerates peacocks, with images of peacocks adorning homes and temples as well as public architecture. This cake is a great introductory sheng pu'er for those who are averse to bitter tea, and is a great way to sample the pure and unadulterated flavor of Man Le teas.