China - Zuxiang Tea Garden - Organic Mini Ripe Puer Tuo Cha

Elevation: 1300m (4300ft)

Tea tree age: 150 years

Our Organic Mini Ripe Puer Tuo Cha is a compact, traditionally fermented tea from Zuxiang Tea Garden, located in the Wuliang Mountain range of Pu'er city's Nanping town in Yunnan - the province widely regarded as the birthplace of tea. Zuxiang is an ecocert certified organic estate, and their ripe puer is crafted without additives, using clean water and traditional microbial fermentation.

Made using leaves from organically grown tea trees, this tea is processed using a careful post-fermentation method typical of shou (ripe, or cooked) puer. Each piece is pressed into a small, single-serving tuo shaped tea cakes of approximately 5g, making it easy to brew and consistent in taste.

The dry tuo is dense and dark, with a rich earthy scent. When brewed, it produces a smooth, reddish-brown liquor with a clean, woody aroma. The flavour is mellow and full-bodied, with notes often described as aged wood, dried jujube, and subtle cacao. It has a slight medicinal bitterness at first but leaves with a soft sweetness lacking in unpleasant aftertaste with a grounding finish that holds up across multiple infusions. Perfect for Gongfu brewing.

Our current stock was produced in 2020-05-18. When kept in in a cool, dry environment with fair humidity (60-75%) and out of sunlight, the tea can be aged where by at least 2030 it will further develop its inherent flavour.

Each mini tuo cha is individually wrapped in golden foil for freshness and will weigh between 4-6g with most being around 5g. With this in mind, each 150g bag will contain between 28-30 mini tuo cha.

Infusion Recommendations:

While you can brew 1-2g of the 5g mini tuo cha in Western-style for 2 minutes in a tea pot, the whole mini tuo cha is much better suited for Gongfu Cha brewing with freshly boiled water in a gaiwan (lidded bowl). We offer a beautiful Gongfu Cha tea set courtesy of Master Shu Song that is ideal for brewing and sharing cups of this tea.

As typical in Gongfu cha we recommend to discard and pour out the first brief infusion as an initial rinse for roughly 10-15 seconds which you can offer to your tea pets if you have any. Then for each subsequent infusion add an extra 5 seconds to infuse. Repeat as much as you are able to enjoy the tea. 

This tea can be infused numerous times times, with each infusion bringing deeper layers of flavour, and passionate tea lovers may even find further complexity on each brew. We are partial to the 2nd and 3rd infusions.

It is not recommend cold brewing this tea by leaving a mini tuo cha in a jug overnight as hot water brings out the desired flavours of the ripe puer, however, you can brew the tea hot, let it cool, then put it in the refrigerator to enjoy a cold puer. This tea can then be diluted to make it taste sweeter.