$160 USD
Ancient tea gardens from Naka village, Mengsong, Menghai
A unique mix of fragrance and bitterness
This tea is quite powerful, we recommend you brew it on the lighter side at the start, this is the best way to experience the high pitched fragrance typical of Northern Menghai. You'll also get plenty of bitterness to play with, it is of a unique kind, more on the upper parts of the mouth and closely paired with astringency.
We visited Naka in Winter 2023 and met a new tea producer. We opted to buy his remaining Spring production of small trees. The high altitude of the area gives a nice high-pitched fragrance to the tea. The particular feature of this terroir is the bitterness, which is unlike any other in the Pu-erh tea world. It strikes on the upper part of the mouth and vanishes quickly, but still leaves light tingles over the session. Naka is the most famous village of this area because it tends to offer a thicker soup than the other places.
Overall, this is a well-balanced tea, the perfect mix of softness and aggressiveness.
To learn more about this area, you can watch a replay of this livestream: