YiBang is one of the six ancient PuErh tea mountains, Mun Sung (曼松) is considered to be the best of YiBang. When entering Mun Sung writing on the gates say “Mun Sung Gong Cha Zhī Yuan”, which means the source of palace tea. It was said that the emperor refused drinking tea not coming from Mun Sung. Tang La is the name of YiBang in the language of the local tribe and it means tea well (like water well), so for them it is the place to get tea from. YiBang has high mountains and deep valleys, high humidity, plenty of sunshine, and fogg, especially in the winter... all natural conditions that tea trees benefit from.
Tea from Mun Sung is well known for its aromatics, sweetness and strong Cha Qi. This tea is made from small leaf varietal, but those leaves are very thick, which is characteristic for this area. After pressing this tea was stored in Kunming natural storage, slowly and gracefully aging. It’s not easy to buy tea from Mun Sung, especially one that have been aged for 20 years and never have changed hands. We don’t think we will have another chance to get it, as this time it was combination of luck, persistence and having friends in the right places.
There is less than 400 of original trees left in YiBang Mun Sung (曼松). From the six great PuErh mountains YiBang was the earliest producing tea. Tribes living there got so much pressure to deliver tea to the palace and high officials, that many have burned their trees and fled. Even more trees were lost throughout more turbulent times, and that is why only less than 400 have survived to this day. New trees have been planted over time and YiBang still thrives because of its fantastic terroir. Recently YiBang PuErh prices surpassed even Lao Ban Zhang. Those nearly 400 original trees that have survived are very precious and new tea coming from them reaches astronomical prices. We had to double confirm that our 2000 YiBang Mun Sung (曼松) Sheng PuErh Dragon Balls are coming from those original trees before we could make it official. This tea is made of material coming from on average 500 yo trees, and we offer it at incredibly low price for what it is. When this tea will be gone, we will never be able to restock.
Tea itself is smooth, thick and very sweet, sweetness that goes all the way to the throat. It is very warming and changing a lot in first few infusions. Notes of aromatic light wood, vanilla, dark fruit, nuts and even lemon zest can be found among others throughout the session.
Tea energy is still very uplifting and tea age can be felt in deep, rooting calmness.
Truly amazing tea that we consider once in a lifetime opportunity.
Storage - Kunming natural storage
Season - Spring
Picking - Up to four leaves
Processing - Fully handmade