Spring 2021 Fa Zhan He

We've always wondered what lies behind this horizon.

A quick search on google earth shows a plateau with a town called Fa Zhan He, and a close up on the surrounding mountains uncovers series of parallel curves.

This is how an armchair tea hunter finds his game.

Back in Spring 2019, as we were busy in Jingmai, our friend, Yu Jian Hui, scouted the area. After following tiny roads in poor conditions, he finally arrived to the location and found a struggling tea estate. These flailing businesses are common in Pu'er county, a mix of lenient government subsidies and poor management decisions have led a lot of such tea estates on the verge of bankruptcy.

Yu Jian Hui brought back samples and the quality was unexpectedly high for an area with no reputation whatsoever. He decided to work on improving their processing methods and using material from recently reclaimed tea gardens, just like we did a couple of years ago in Mohei.

Long story short, he started a small production run but the cooperation with the tea estate failed. He ended up with 60kg of tea made in March-April 2021. which wasn't enough for him to sell. We found tea quality very acceptable and were keen on offering a tea produced close to Jingmai, and yet so different, so we bought the lot.

The leaves are surprisingly small. This is not a clonal cultivar but a seed-propagated varietal, just a different one from what we have in Jingmai. The tea has an interesting personality. It is not particularly powerful but keeps the drinker engaged. You'll want to constantly reach for another cup.

It is an excellent entry-level cake that will charm beginners while not corrupting the essence of good pu-erh tea. You get a decently thick soup, satisfying mouthfeel, a pleasant fragrance and no bitterness. Highly recommended as a first cake or as a daily drinker!