作者： Wilbur Tan
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Mengding Huangya (蒙顶黄芽) — Sweet Corn, the Whole Plant, and a Sweeter Ninth Infusion
Sunflower fragrance turns to sweet corn, then corn core, roots and leaves. Ten infusions of Mengding Huangya yellow tea, with the sweetest surprise arriving at Infusion 9.
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2021 Jingmai Raw Pu’er — Orchid Petals, Sweet Liquor and Morning Dew
Orchid-petal bitterness stays on the tongue while the liquor turns sweet. Eleven infusions of 2021 Jingmai raw Pu’er finish with mashed fresh leaves, morning dew and unripe-plum sweetness.
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2024 Lancang Ancient Tea 001 Jingmai Mountain Raw Pu’er — Young Leaves and Sweet Plum
Vibrant young leaves, a silky tongue coating and sweet young plum: eleven infusions of 2024 Lancang Ancient Tea 001 Jingmai Mountain raw Pu’er, ending in satisfying diluted plum juice.
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Is Old Tea Really an Investment?
The more old tea I buy, the less I confuse a high asking price with money I could actually get back. Some thoughts on storage, provenance, and buying tea I am happy to drink.
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2026 Huoshan Huangya 霍山黄芽 — A Different Recipe of Tau Suan
Orchid and warmed edamame give way to a different recipe of tau suan: whole mung beans, bitter skins and increasingly sweet soup across eleven infusions of 2026 Huoshan Huangya.
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Cooling, Warming, or Somewhere in Between? How Chinese Tea Changes with Age
Green tea is cooling. Red tea is warming. But where do aged white tea, roasted oolong and twenty-year-old raw Pu’er fit? A tea drinker’s look at 茶性, processing, age and storage in the traditional Chinese framework.
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Shou Mei — A White Lily on a Still Pond
Mei Bo Zhen “First Encounter” Shou Mei, made from 2025 material: ten infusions move from smooth sweetness and vegetable root to a white lily, spreading ripples and sunset over a still pond.
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Gong Mei — A Remembrance of Vegetable Soup
Benchmark 3 of my Mei Bo Zhen Fuding white-tea series: 2025 Gong Mei moves from mint and dried flowers to parsley, vegetable soup and lasting bittersweet vegetal sweetness across ten infusions.
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Bai Mu Dan 白牡丹 — A Breeze Through the Wildflower Garden
Benchmark 2 of my Mei Bo Zhen Fuding white-tea series: a bud-rich Bai Mu Dan opens like Silver Needle, then fills out into sweet grass, hay and flowers. Across nine infusions, its image becomes a wildflower garden stirred by a soft, fragrant breeze.
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An Old Room, a Familiar Scent — A Purported 2002 Banzhang Sheng
A 15-infusion sheng Pu’er tasting: smoked wood, medicinal memories of my grandmother, and a late turn towards vegetal minerality. Provenance unverified.