2022 Peach Village Ancient Tree Puerh

FatBat Private Pressing Gushu Raw Puerh

桃子寨古树

We almost missed this rare and sought after tea from Peach Village / Tao Zi Zhai in Man Zhuan. Tea from this remote Guoyoulin (National Protected Forest) area is highly prized and not often seen on the market due to small quantities of good material as well as being very valued by mainland collectors.

We have been tracking this village for a while now,  but pandemic restrictions made accessing the area and organizing picking hard this year. Thankfully we were able to obtain just 4.5kg of maocha from our source in the village (which we had not planned for!). This is not a tea we could easily pass up, so decided to move ahead with pressing despite the budget stretch.

Like most of our early Spring "forest teas" from the 6 famous mountains (Yiwu, Man Zhuan, Yibang, Ge Deng etc.), bitterness is nonexistent with a penetrating sweetness. This is expressed particularly cleanly in this Tao Zi Zhai pressing, with great nuance. The energy is centering and calming.

It is not an inexpensive tea and like many of the top tier puerhs it has a very subtle approach, so this production is recommended for the experienced puerh drinker.

TERROIR

Tao Zi Zhai (Peach Village) is a remote, sought after tea garden in the Guoyoulin forest of the greater Man Zhuan tea region. Tao Zi Zhai is to Man Zhuan what Bohetang is to Yiwu, with both micro-regions commanding the utmost respect among connoisseurs (along with stratospheric prices unfortunately). This extremely remote area is among the best preserved in terms of ecology and biodiversity. A relatively large number of trees here are also tall-pole / gaogan and have been growing untended for centuries. 

TECHNICALS