"Tea Talk on Paper" Part 3: Pure Material and Single Tree

Mr. Wang, from Kunming, works in engineering and is well-off. He and his friend agreed to come to Shuangjiang early on March 20, 2015. His friend, who has been making tea for years, selected a tree in Bingdao with Mr. Wang to make ancient tree single-tree tea, agreeing with the tree owner on a dry tea price of 18,000 yuan per kilogram. Mr. Wang brought a sleeping bag, parked his Land Rover next to the tea tree, watched the owner pick, watched him process, and slept by the tea at night. Mr. Wang kept refreshing his Moments, and many liked his dedication, marveled at the high tea price, and envied Mr. Wang for contracting the best tea tree in Bingdao. Mr. Wang instantly became the "Prince of Bingdao" in his circle. While the tea was still being made, Mr. Wang made a round of calls: 200 grams for this leader, 150 grams for that partner, 100 grams for a good buddy... Mr. Wang himself was left with only about 100 grams. The next afternoon, when the tea was dry, Mr. Wang paid over 30,000 yuan in cash and headed straight back to Kunming with more than a kilogram of Bingdao tea.

Mr. Li is a lay Buddhist who has been chanting sutras and believing in Buddhism for many years. He has no other hobbies but a good cup of tea, especially large-tree Pu'er tea from deep mountains and forests. Mr. Li is hands-on and can make tea himself, especially good at stir-frying. On March 20, 2016, Mr. Li brought three tea-loving friends on a direct flight to Xishuangbanna. A tea farmer he had cooperated with for years picked them up at the airport and drove straight to a village in Yiwu. It was late, so they chatted and went to bed early. The next morning at around 6 a.m., the tea farmer had breakfast ready. After eating, they boarded three motorcycles. Mr. Li could ride, the tea farmer rode one, and they hired another person to ride the third. Six people on three motorcycles headed deep into the forest with a sputtering sound. After about an hour on the motorcycle, the road ended. They parked the bikes and walked into the woods for nearly two hours before finally reaching their destination: the big tea tree. For lunch, they had only dry rations. After several hours of work, they got over 30 kilograms of fresh leaves. By the time they returned to the village, dinner time had passed. They endured hunger to spread out the fresh leaves to wither before eating. After dinner, they slept first, then got up at midnight to stir-fry the tea, then slept again. In this way, after a week, Mr. Li and his team finally made the less than 100 kilograms of good tea they needed.

Image from Tea Industry Revival, "Mint Sugar Has Fallen" | Provided by Wang Ming

Ms. Wang has a cold constitution and likes sun-facing ancient tree tea. On March 23, 2016, she came to a village in Menghai and stayed at the home of an agreed tea farmer. The next morning, Ms. Wang followed the tea farmer to the tea garden. She designated a dozen trees, and the tea farmer organized several women to pick the sun-facing fresh leaves from those trees for Ms. Wang, charging an extra 50 yuan per kilogram of fresh leaves...

If you, like me, stay in Menghai or Yiwu and visit villages and shops, you will hear such stories and see such things every day. For the same tea tree, being able to sell for more money, even double, is a win for the tea farmer. For the buyer, having traveled a long distance and spent time and a lot of money to come to the tea mountain, spending a bit more on fresh leaves doesn't matter, since they aren't buying much anyway.

Let's discuss Laobanzhang Village. I roughly estimate that during the spring tea season, no fewer than 15,000 people go up to Laobanzhang. 15% of them buy tea, averaging 1 kilogram per person. That means tourists buy 2.3 tons of Laobanzhang tea during the entire spring tea season. Many of these tourists select their own trees to make tea, and the tea farmers in Laobanzhang are very adept at selling single-tree tea. Roughly estimating, the tourist benefit from spring tea alone in Laobanzhang is 20 million yuan. Many of the Laobanzhang tea farmers' teas are sold directly this way. If they can sell at high prices, why sell to tea merchants? With tourists supporting this and factories and tea merchants needing to make Laobanzhang tea, why would tea farmers rush to lower prices? So I think the price of Laobanzhang may adjust, but it should not drop significantly, for this reason.

Pu'er tea enthusiasts are fond of pure material and single-tree teas. Merchants, seeing the brand effect of famous mountain teas, have also launched pure material tea products. Taking Bingdao as an example, there are over 3,500 "Bingdao Ancient Tree Pure Material" tea products sold on Taobao alone. I have visited Bingdao Village many times. I estimate that the total annual production of ancient tree tea in the entire Bingdao Village is only about one ton, but there is so much Bingdao pure material tea on the market; the quality can be imagined.

Finally, let's discuss two questions.

Is single-tree tea better than non-single-tree tea?

To discuss this, let me first talk about something I often encounter. People often tell me, "I have 100 kilograms of single-tree tea from such-and-such mountain." Here is a common sense: I often see that the fresh leaves of a large tree in Yunnan, if picked for the first spring tea, usually do not exceed 3 kilograms. Even if picked in all four seasons, it would not exceed 10 kilograms of fresh leaves, which translates to just over 2 kilograms of dry tea. I don't know what kind of tea tree can produce 100 kilograms of dry tea as a single tree.

I have discussed this issue with many peers, and I often compare myself. Most single-tree teas, when compared in tasting, are indeed better than the mixed harvest from the whole area. The color, aroma, and taste are all improved, and some have a big difference. The reason, I analyze, is that the selected single trees are usually taller, larger, and more vigorous, so the tea quality may be slightly better. But I think the processing of single-tree tea—picking, withering, stir-frying, sun-drying—is more meticulous because of the higher price, and since single-tree buyers often supervise the entire process, the craftsmanship level is much higher. This is the fundamental reason for the improved quality of single-tree tea. Tea enthusiasts who are interested can randomly select dozens of large trees to make tea in the same way, then mix them together and compare with the designated single-tree tea to see if there is a significant difference in quality.

What is the exact scope of tea that can be considered pure material?

I believe there is no true pure material. Even a single tree has differences between sun-facing and shaded sides, and between plump and thin leaves. If you separate these and make tea separately, the flavors will differ. It can be said that all Pu'er tea we see is blended tea.

But it is fine to define pure material by scope. For example, Laobanzhang ancient tree pure material means that ancient tea trees within the entire Laobanzhang village can be used. Tea made this way can be considered Laobanzhang ancient tree pure material. If small-tree tea or fresh leaves from other villages are used, it is not Laobanzhang ancient tree pure material. Another example is Bulang Mountain ancient tree pure material, where the raw material scope refers to ancient tree tea from the entire Bulang Mountain tea area, including Laobanzhang, Banpen, Guangbie, and Hekai. Such tea can be considered pure material for Bulang Mountain, or it can be called Bulang Mountain ancient tree blended tea.

Tea is for drinking. The good tea I understand is one that makes you feel comfortable when you drink it and is within your price range. This is also the original intention of our previous two crowdfunding teas. Whether single-tree, pure material, or blended, good quality is what truly matters. Let us forget the mountain names and use our bodies to perceive a good cup of tea.

Original article by author Lü Jianfeng, WeChat: ynwuse, working at 51 Pu'er Net, initiator of Houyue Crowdfunding Tea.