- Production year: 2026
- Basket weight: ~500g (+/- 10%)
- Price: USD 70 / basket
- Availability: In stock
A contact that used to have annual commissions released under his own brands (but has more or less pulled out entirely due to the current Anhei market situation) reached out to a couple of people to gauge interest in getting in on some special Tianjian pressings again this year. Material from a few different places was available, it would all be processed by the same craftsmen who were given free reins to decide on how to treat each mountain. Despite the processing uncertainties and knowing that high quality and tender material tends to end up with a lighter touch (with a more immediately stimulating quality and less focus on long-term aging) that is on the unorthodox side for Anhua heicha (catering more to the “new generation of drinkers”), I did not let the opportunity go to waste figuring it would at the very least be an interesting experiment and something very different from what I typically share here.
I’m leave out specific notes for these teas on purpose; suffice it to say that the Gaomaerxi tea underwent qixing-stove processing followed by gentle charcoal roasting, while the Jiulongchi tea was sun-dried and not roasted.
My suggestion for these teas is to drink them gradually over the span of 3-5 years and look for incremental changes. To encourage this kind of ongoing comparison the price for both teas bought together will be USD 120 (vs. USD 70 per tea if bought separately), with a mylar-bag big enough to hold both baskets included. (Please remind me about the free mylar part if placing an order for both teas, in case I forget). (And no, despite the roasting difference on these teas, I am not concerned about storing them together in the same mylar.)
These teas are limited to one basket (of each) per person. The baskets come with the brand name labelling from the guy who arranged this as they will be sold in certain domestic groups and platforms at some point. I will not mention the brand names here (and have removed it from the images) since these teas are likely to be offered at a very different price tier there.
