THNG020 - Zhibang Qiaomu Hongcha 2025

Product detailed description

Fresh Yunnan Red Tea from Zhibang village (值蚌) at Gedeng Tea Mountain (革登山). Tea was harvested and compressed in Spring 2025. Zhibang village is located approximately 12 km (aerial view) from the Xiangming town (象明乡) in Mengla County (勐海县), where more than 100 people lives (2025). The tea leaves come from mature tea trees (qiaomu 桥木), which were collected across Zhibang tea gardens at the elevation about 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 colorful cover has different tribal motives, which refers to the tribal wars during the Qing Dynasty (1850-1861) and meaning of the Gedeng Tea Mountain ("High Place" in the Bulang tribe language), during which led to significant decline of the tea production across Six Ancient Tea Mountains (Guliudachashan 古六大茶山).

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) - juicy floral fragrance with sweet honey tones
• Cup aroma imprint (Guabeixiang 挂杯香) - noticable tones of sweet pastry and honey

Color:

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

Taste:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - soft drinks (cola with brown sugar or sugar cane) with tones of freshly cut spring flowers
• Advanced phase (> 5 infusions) - european mint with tones of fresh vegetable (cucumber and zucchini) and sweet pastry (sweet dumplings covered with sugar powder)

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 Gedeng Mountain, this tea rapidly brings intense sweeteness and provides different degrees of juiciness and creaminess (character of the Gedeng 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 tonic and boosting effect within hours