From high atop Nan Mei Village, hails this Mandala Tea exclusive sheng pu’er cake. We were fortunate to visit this farm and walk among the 300-400 year old trees from which this leaf was picked! In China, this is called Gu Shu Cha or “Old Tree Tea”.

This is spring 2012 material, first flush – clean growing area, ZERO sprays, very high-altitude. There is a photo included that we took while we were hiking through the old trees being guided by the grower, Mr Wei!

As we prepare this, we are transported back to our time on that mountain, drinking in the crisp, clean air and drinking the freshly processed mao cha and sipping with old (and new) friends.

In the aroma of the tea liquor, we smell thick caramel and sugar cane while a gentle breeze blows in hints of a distant campfire where the sweetness of burning birchwood is evident. But this tea is far from what we would call smoky. Get out your aroma cups and check this one for yourself. In later infusions, we find wonderful floral notes lingering.

The flavor is full on the tongue, a butteriness present while the salivary glands are treated to a subtle cleansing. Slightly vegetal, (sweeter if you are using lower water temps – we use boiling), almost no grassiness. Later steepings bring out a High Mountain Taiwanese oolong quality to the flavor. We look forward to watching the years pass for this one.

We named this tea due to the effect we feel in our body/mind. This tea is definitely one to help remove stagnancy in the meridians and we feel it most in the heart energy. The cha qi (tea energy) courses through the body and creates a feeling of “calm vibrancy”, quite noticeable in the heart center.

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23 Teas in NurseNato's Cupboard

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