2026 Man Song Imperial Tribute Puerh

FatBat Private Pressing Imperial Tribute Raw Puerh

曼松 王子山 贡茶

Among the 4 major Imperial Tribute tea gardens of Yunnan, the groves of Man Song in Yibang mountain are undeniably considered the true Queen of Tribute teas. We have tried to produce a Man Song Tribute tea worthy of its lofty reputation for the past 3 years, but ultra-low yields (from the few select groves we prefer) and inclement weather has not yielded the perfect material. This year (2026), near-perfect weather prevailed and we were able to work with Brother Li of household #17 in Wang Zi Shan (Prince’s Hill) village to secure a magnificent picking of his trees.

True to its nature as a Tribute tea, this Man Song is exceedingly elegant and refined, but never weak or characterless. Instead, it expresses its sophistication via a blanket of sweetness that doesn’t overwhelm, but accentuates the crystal clear orchid fragrance and tropical fruit creaminess this terroir is known for.

With this Man Song, our Imperial Tribute Garden series is finally complete – and we can offer an opportunity to do a vertical tasting pack of all 4 Imperial Tribute teas – available as an option in the size menu above.

TASTING NOTES

Piercing aroma of ripe mango on the gaiwan lid. Crystal clear sweetness of lychees, powerful and lasting. An orchid fragrance is discernable – one of such purity and single-mindedness that it stands above the many other regions which claim this note as a characteristic. Despite its elegance, this isn’t a mild tea. There is substance here that is apparent in the long finish on the palate and an active sweet sensation that circulates in the back of the throat. A truly noble tea.

TERROIR

Man Song is a small area on Yibang mountain (one of the 6 Ancient Tea Mountains, west of Yiwu) and is known as one of the 4 major Imperial Tribute Tea Gardens. While all the Imperial Tribute Gardens boast tea that is very elegant, delicate and complex, Man Song is perhaps the most refined of them all, but due to a small growing area and very low yields, securing a good picking of this tea is challenging.

Two villages manage the groves of Man Song: Wang Zi Shan (meaning “Prince’s Hill”) to the northwest and Bei Yin Shan (roughly meaning “Rear Shaded Hill”) to the southeast. While both villages are considered Man Song, the slopes of Prince’s Hill are widely considered to produce the best “true” Imperial Tribute tea that is exceedingly sweet and elegant, which is attributed to the quality of the red-clay soil and the extremely steep, quickly draining slopes of these gardens. This has led Prince’s Hill to widely become considered the benchmark of all Imperial Tribute Teas.

Like most of the other Yibang growing areas (such as Da Hei Shu Lin, Ma Li Shu etc.), the tea trees of Prince’s Hill are small and medium leaf varietals. They share some similar characteristics such as a high level of sweetness, powerful orchid aroma and a vanishingly low astringency. It is the micro-terroir differences which give the teas from each of these gardens different taste profiles – it is interesting to taste them side-by-side to see what characteristics were selected for the ancient imperial tributes.