THNG019 - Tongqinghe Qiaomu Hongcha 2025

Product detailed description

Fresh Yunnan Red Tea from Tongqinghe village (铜箐河) at Yiwu Tea Mountain (易武山). Tea was harvested and compressed in Spring 2025. Tongqinghe village is located approximately 14 km (aerial view) from the Guafengzhai village (刮风寨) in Mengla County (勐海县), both at the close distance from Laotian borders. The tea leaves come from mature tea trees (qiaomu 桥木), which were collected across Tongqinghe tea gardens at the elevation between 1400-1500 m.a.s.l. Unlike the Yiwu Qiaomu Hongcha 2024, this tea was harvested during the first Spring harvest in 2025 (Touchun 头春), which is even more precious, sweeter and more complex. The purple cover symbolizes the signature dragon-style embroidery from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and refers to the Six Ancient Tea Mountains (Guliudachashan 古六大茶山), which were controlled by the Qing's emperor administration until the end of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The tea was generously provided by Zhoujie and Mengmeng (FM-01), tea producers living in Jiabu village (架布) at Yibang Tea Mountain (倚邦山) who source their teas from Six Ancient Tea Mountains (Guliudachashan 古六大茶山). During our work trip to Xishuangbanna at the beginning of 2025, we spent quite a lot of time travelling and exploring several tea gardens and tasting various teas from the Mengla area (勐腊). 

Aroma:

• Wet + dry leaf (Shicha 湿茶 + Gancha 干茶) - fruity scent with sweet honey tones
• Cup aroma imprint (Guabeixiang 挂杯香) - noticable honey and spices tones

Color:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - transparent orange-ochre shades
• Development phase (> 5 infusions) - brighter ochre-honey shades

Taste:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - stonefruit marmalades (cherries, apricots and peaches) with tones of aged forest honey
• Advanced phase (> 5 infusions) - exotic flower fragrance (white orchids) with tones of dry stonefruits (plums and raisins) and spices (cinammon)

Body: 

• Thickness (Naipao 耐泡) - solid vitality, which will allow you to make more infusions
• Texture (Chunhounongyu 醇厚浓郁) - thick and complex character (ideal for work or travelling)
• Astringency (Se 涩) - none
• Character (Kutianjiaozhi 苦甜交织) - similarly like other teas from Yiwu Mountain, this tea rapidly brings intense sweeteness and contains variety of stonefruits and honey (character of the Yiwu Mountain)
• Balance (Zonghe pinghengdu 综合平衡度) - differences between particular layers of flavours are gradual and symmetrical (i.e. no suprise changes in between the infusions)

Aftertaste:

• Sweetness (Huigan 回甘) - strong and intense sweeteness within hours
• Mouthful feeling (Shengjin 生津) - intense mouth-water-feeling within hours
• Energy feeling (Nenglianggan 能量感) - noticable warming and boosting effect within hours