Origin: Shidian, Baoshan, Yunnan

The Bao Shan mountains are taller than most of the mountains in southern Yunnan. And generally, with higher elevation comes a slower growing process. The resulting tea can have thicker textures and very clear, well-developed flavors and aromas. This tea was harvested in 2007 from mature tea trees. 

This is our first tea that has gone through the so-called "traditional Hong Kong aging" process. Hong Kong has become famous for its aging techniques. They've had a tricky relationship with China over the past couple of centuries, and tea drinking was so common throughout Hong Kong that they needed to find ways to extend the shelf-life of teas. 

The most famous storage methods coming out of Hong Kong are "wet storage" and "dry storage." Dry storage just means that the tea is stored at ambient humidity. Hong Kong is quite humid, so as the tea ages, its tannins break down more quickly and go through more changes than tea that is stored in drier climates. "Wet storage," on the other hand, means that the tea is aged in facilities with increased humidity, like a cigar humidor. This increased humidity can further accelerate the breakdown of the bitter tannins and soften their dryness. But, a tea that is stored for too long, in too wet of a condition, can taste extremely funky, and even moldy. 

Hong Kong's "traditional storage" takes the benefits of increased humidity over the first three years of aging. The humidity is then slowly decreased until the tea arrives at ambient humidity. In the first three years of aging, the added humidity accelerated the breakdown of tannins. And then the following decade of aging at HK ambient humidity patiently teased out a very dynamic mouthfeel, flavor, and aroma.

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