Wildcraft Puer & White Tea

On this page are listed two different cakes of tea, a sheng (raw) puer and a white tea, from the same wild trees in Ailao Shan Yunnan.

When we say wildcraft, we use this word to denote that it is foraged from actual wild growing tea trees in Yunnan. The word wild is sometimes used to mean different things in the tea world, but plants that propagated themselves by natural means without any human selection and were discovered in the woods (i.e. actually wild tea) is relatively rare. It is also a different species of tea plant. My understanding is that camelia sinensis is all selectively bred, chosen by people for special characteristics that we like. That includes 'Gushu'/'Qiaomu' or ancient arbor trees. They were planted by someone at some point. The trees that produce our 'wildcraft' teas have a high canopy and long trunk, and must be climbed by the tea pickers. Age dating trees is speculation, but judging by their height and thickness of trunks it's at least hundreds of years old.

We like this tea because of its medicinal quality. I'm not recommending it based on claimed health benefits, but I do want to share my own experience of the feeling in my body and how I use it to feel better. It is wonderfully cooling. When I'm feeling overheated in the summertime, no other tea cools me down in the same way. It also helps any time of the year when I'm feeling internally hot, like after I eat too much greasy food or heavy roasted meat. This is a good example of the perfect use case for me : When I'm standing over a hot bbq all day in the summer heat and eating fatty grilled food, this tea makes ice cold beer obsolete.

The taste is nice and balanced with a pleasant sweetness. It is also bitter. If you don't brew too strong it is a pleasantly cooling bitterness that you may not even register. The tea works well this way. If you brew it strong it will have the kind of bitterness that could be harder to take depending on the drinker, but I still feel it is well contained - balanced and intensely refreshing.

White Tea vs Puer : The white tea tastes like white tea and the puer taste like puer. Both have their merits! They are harvested from the same exact trees. The white tea is new from this year, so it is more vibrant and the white processing gives it a fruitier taste. The puer has been stored in Seattle since it was made back in 2019, so it has mellowed out some but not really developed an aged taste. I would say, if you want a fresh youthful presentation go for the white and if you want an earthier taste go for the puer. Or try both!

First picture is Puer, second picture is White Tea.

Facts

• Harvest Location : Ailao Shan, Yunnan
• Puer Harvest Date : March 2019
  
• White Tea Harvest Date : March 2026
• Farming : Wild Growing
• Variety : Camelia Taliensis