2026 Cat's Ear - Yiwu Guoyoulin Puerh

FatBat Private Pressing Raw Puerh

猫耳朵 蛮砖 国有林

A true selected-trees Cat’s Ear varietal picking from deep in the Guoyoulin (Protected State Reserve) jungles of the 6 Ancient Mountains. A scarce, difficult custom picking done for us by Brother Sha and his team of pickers and processed to the highest standard in his Menghai processing house. A beautifully bud-heavy cake.

Among fans of teas from Yiwu and the neighboring 6 Ancient Tea Mountains, the term Cat’s Ear (猫耳朵 Mao Er Duo) holds special excitement. As the name suggests, this is used to describe a certain varietal of tree that produces leaves that are small and oval in shape (not elongated like most regular tea leaves), which closely resemble the ears of a kitten. These varietals are not cultivated, they are only found naturally occurring as a small % of each grove, making it highly rare and difficult to produce in quantity.

Cat’s Ear leaf is often considered to be the ultimate expression of the 6 Ancient Mountains character – the delicate florals, juicy fruit and crystal-clear sweetness of “regular” small-leaf teas from this area are magnified even further in the Cat’s Ear variety.

This material is tricky to process well – due to the small and delicate nature of the leaf, it is often fired for a very short time (too short) in the wok by farmers who are afraid of burning the leaf, resulting in a light tea lacking body -- not desireable. This production however, which has been supervised by Brother Sha, has been thoroughly fired with closely managed wok temps to yield a deeper, richer liquor and a depth that is remarkable for such a delicate material, without burning any of the leaf. A masterpiece of processing.

TASTING NOTES

Crystal clear, pale white-yellow liquor, with a silken texture and tongue-coating herbal sweetness. Aromas of lemons preserved in icing sugar and warmed lime-zest. The sip brings a hint of tropical fruit (papaya? jackfruit?) and a distinct note of candy-coated almonds, piercingly brittle-sweet. Mid-session, a fuller body of fresh Rainier cherries comes to the fore along with an increasingly strong floral character that builds and builds relentlessly. The aromas remain fascinating throughout – citrus pulp, zest, powerful green florals and the barest hint of ripe stonefruit – from the warmed leaf, then carrying through in the back of the throat past the final swallow.

TERROIR

This picking was made in the deep jungles near the border of Mang Zhi and YouLe mountains, far from any of the major villages. We heard about the discovery of this grove earlier this year by some local farmers, and arranged for Brother Sha to organize a picking team to secure a batch this Spring. Mostly, Cat Ear varietals will grow alongside other "regular" small and medium-leafed cultivars – this grove had a surprising proportion of Cat Ear varietals, which made the picking very fruitful. Although Cat Ear varietals grow throughout the 6 Ancient Mountains, many of the “known” groves are in the Yibang region (and a few in Man Zhuan), far fewer in this Mang Zhi – YouLe area. Which makes this newly discovered grove very interesting to sample to experience the unique terroir here.