Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Pu-Erh

Where to Buy: Wymm Tea (Ancient Tree Pu-Erh)

Tea Description:

Kunlu Mountain is located within Ning’er Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture county in Pu’er city. Kun means “valley” and lu means “sparrow” in Dai minority group’s language, together Kunlu means a valley inhabited with sparrows. Kunlu Mountain sits at the end of the Wuliang mountain range, where Lancang and Honghe rivers divide. Kunlu Mountain’s altitude ranges between 1410 and 2271 meters, and is considered one of the higher mountains within Pu’er city region. A combination of early-cultivated and wild-grown trees forms the ancient tea tree forest, which covers 10,122 mu (equivalent to 6.75 sqkm) on the mountain.

Kunlu Mountain once served as imperial tea garden for the Qing emperors over 200 years. After successful bureaucratization of Cheli Xuanweisi in 1729, E’ertai (Ortai), the governor-general of Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi tri-province, established a tribute tea factory in Ning’er village, Pu’er Fu (known nowadays as Xishuangbanna). Every year, only the best and most delicate tea buds harvested from Kunlu Mountain in early spring were sent into this factory, in which they were carefully pressed into shapes or processed into paste. These products were presented in front of the Qing emperors after a 6-month, 4100-km route done solely on horseback. These products were carefully supervised by feudal officials and guarded by soldiers.

Taster’s Review:

This 2010 Spring Kunlu Mountain from Wymm Tea (Ancient Tea Pu-Erh) doesn’t appear to be listed on the Wymm Tea shop any longer.  There is, however, a Pu-Erh called Kunlu Sheng Pu-Erh from Ancient Tree 2010 Spring which I can only assume could be comparable.  Don’t quote me on that because I haven’t tried that offering yet.

I mainly wanted to mention this offering from Wymm Tea because it was the very first Pu-Erh experience I had from this company and it was a great one.  This Pu-Erh is right up my alley.  It’s not the muddy-thick-wormy-earthy-tar like pu-erh that I have had from other companies.  This is more of a gentler-earthy yet semi-floral Pu-Erh experience.  I think this is a great Pu-Erh to start with if you are trying them for the first time.  It will NOT scare you away from Pu-Erhs as a whole and will NOT make you pre-judge other Pu-Erh’s but at the same time it’s very pleasing and will set a standard for other Pu-Erh’s.  This is very well-done and I can’t wait to try additional offerings from Wymm Tea!