2016 Outland JiGushu Very Ancient Trees (T5*, Benchmark)

Highlights: 100% first spring pick of extremely ancient trees Very sweet, thick and rich with an obvious honey fragrance and taste Long aftertaste and huigan Very strong calming and comfortable Qi Complex forest aromas Maximum estimate tree age: average over 500 years (with the oldest trees being 1000 years) Last year while hunting for especially old trees we found something very special: a cluster of extremely ancient trees near Jiangcheng (Puerh prefecture, Yunnan) and the Laos and Vietnam border (3 countries border area). Not just that… we even managed to buy some of the first harvest (2016) of these trees! And the farmer charged us a ridiculously low amount for this quality of tea, and it was aged very well too! We’re passing on the same really great pricing on this 100% pure “super gushu” production to you, with our compliments. Full of forest strength, sweetly charming, very strong calming Qi, this is the pure unadulterated very ancient trees (“Jigushu”) experience. The Qi is lovely, not just strongly calming but also very comfortable in the body. Some balanced astringency, and in every other regard (aftertaste, sweetness, texture, patience, Qi, aroma, elegance, etc) this is a 5 stars tea at a fraction of the usual price of teas with these qualities. It has a charming, smooth, unique flavour given its unusual terroir and tree type (quite close but not identical to standard puerh varietal trees as found in Xishuangbanna and Puerh).   How old are these trees? All tree ages are approximations, and one should always doubt when an age is given as a single number. There are no certain scientific methods to identify the age of a tea tree. The only possible way to tell how old (and healthy) a certain tree is is by drinking its leaves and comparing it to its neighbours: the older the tree is, the thicker the soup and the more comfortable the ChaQi and your body in general. The consensus among the most reliable tea experts about the age of the oldest puerh trees in this tea area is approx. 500-1200 years (some people say less or more than these numbers too!). However people, even experts, have very different opinions about what age of tree is in a specific area. So there always is uncertainty in this topic and we won’t pretend otherwise, we simply say: If you or your favourite expert think there are 1000 years old in Puerh prefecture and nearby, this tea contains such trees. This is a pick of the oldest trees, the best category of ancient tree available in the area. Best largely means oldest, but healthiest/biggest is also very important. You can find more details about reference tree ages on the Benchmark ancient tree introduction under “Age of trees”.   Puerh.uk Benchmark Ancient Tree Series Introduction The best possible ancient tree tea that can be obtained in a given specific garden Our most significant contribution to making available a type of puerh that was not available before Super strict quality criteria (standard puerh varietal only, classic puerh areas only, 1st spring pick, extremely clean environment, ancient trees that have never been cut, healthiest and biggest trees only chosen for single trees production) The best tea is not for sale, it’s available only through relationships. Tier 5 is about 0.01% of available Puerh, with ancient tree leaves only with all taste qualities present in overwhelming amount, tea that is basically only found in elite asian circles and via private connections. Benchmark ancient tree Puerh is a subset of Tier 5, and particularly means: this is highest expression of ancient tree puerh from a specific garden, so it can be used as “benchmark” to tell whether other puerh is truly ancient tree or not. Puerh of this quality has never been made before in history (only in the last 10 years), this is the most exciting frontier of tea at the moment as far as we’re concerned. Please see the full Benchmark ancient tree introduction page for more info. 30g ceramic jars (a bit more than 1oz) containing chunks of cake, 200g cakes.