TSNG059 - Damenglong Gushu Shengcha 2024

Product detailed description

Competition sheng puer from Mengsong village (勐宋村) in Damenglong micro-region (大勐龙). Damenglong is located approximately 60 km from Jinghong city (景洪市) at the remote border area between China and Myanmar. The tea was harvested and pressed during the first Spring harvest in 2024 (Touchun 头春), which is even more precious since the tea has significantly more sweeter and complex taste. The tea leaves come from ancient tea trees (gushu 古树), which were collected across Mengsong tea gardens at the elevation about 1000 m.a.s.l.  The cover depicts Liu Chengdong during the harvest and refers to the golden award (jinjiang 金奖), which he recieved at the Cross-Strait King Tea Competition in Xiamen in puer tea category (两岸斗茶茶王赛, 2024). Such a reward recognizing the exceptional taste from Damenglong is spectacular considering only ten pre-selected competitors who represented the Yunnan Province (云南省). While only 618 tea cakes (357 g) were produced, we are proud owners of the cake No. 51 and No. 52, which you can taste now.

The tea was generously provided by Liu Chengdong, one of the certified tea masters (Lvl 2, Gaoji Zhichashi 高级制茶师), one of the highest level with better understanding of the tea processing and other techniques elegible for a senior tea technician), former police officer and chairman of the Xishuangbanna Tea Industry Association (西双版纳州茶业协会), whom we met during our work trip to Xishuangbanna at the beginning of 2025. Liu comes from Hani tribe (哈尼族) and apart from tea production, he also teaches students and share his wisdom with new generation of Xishuangbanna tea masters. We met with Liu during our work trip to Xishuangbanna at the beginning of 2025, where we have spent quite a lot of time by discussing ongoing development pathways for Xishuangbanna tea industry, evolution of tea competitions and tea tasting of his excellent puer teas.

Aroma:

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

Color:

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

Taste:

• Initial phase (< 5 infusions) - citrusy syrups (oranges and tangerines) and fruity candies (bonpari, puffed rice) with fresh wood and dry hay tones
• Advanced phase (> 5 infusions) - fresh grounded nuts (pine nuts, lotus seed) with sweet undertones of light musk, wild olives and forest honey
  

Body: 

• Thickness (Naipao 耐泡) - solid vitality, which will allow you to make more infusions
• Texture (Chunhounongyu 醇厚浓郁) - very smooth, super juicy and very delicate layers
• Astringency (Se 涩) - similarly like other fresh harvest sheng puers (2025-2022), there can be found some astrigency, particularly in advance phase and aftertaste, yet, very pleasant
• Character (Kutianjiaozhi 苦甜交织) - similarly like other teas from Damenglong micro-region, this tea has disctinctive bitter-sweet character (influenced by Bulang Mountain 布朗山) and sour-sweet juiciness (influenced by Bada Mountain 巴达山), yet, this tea has very complex body and little bit musky undertone, which will take you to Jinghong autumn sunset
• 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) - exceptionally strong and intense sweeteness within hours
• Mouthful feeling (Shengjin 生津) - very intense mouth-water-feeling within hours
• Energy feeling (Nenglianggan 能量感) - noticable boosting, calming and cooling effect within hours