2025 Yunnan Sourcing "Suan Zao Shu" Old Arbor White Tea Cake

Name: 2025 Yunnan Sourcing "Suan Zao Shu" Old Arbor White Tea Cake
Brand: Yunnan Sourcing Brand Pu-erh
Price: 82.0 USD
Availability: InStock

by Yunnan Sourcing Brand Pu-erh

$10.70 - $82.00

$10.70

$10.70 - $82.00

$10.70

Quantity

Suan Zao Shu village is one of the most remote villages in the Jinggu area, taking nearly 2 hours from Jinggu town to arrive there. The winding dirt roads stop about 5 kilometers before you arrive and the remaining distance must be traversed by foot. Suan Zao Shu village lies at an altitude of 1800 meters and is home to tea trees ranging in age from 50 years up to 400 years. Our Suan Zao Shu tea cake is made from tea leaves harvested 200-300 year old tea trees in the Li family tea garden.

Suan Zao Shu tea is very strong in flavor, aroma and cha qi. The white tea processed version of this tea is fruit and honey with a light touch of umami tart. It has a thick mouth-feel, and a warming yellow-orange tea soup with tons of body!

Why it’s special

Old-arbor material (200–300 yrs): Thick, sturdy leaf from semi-wild trees gives depth, stamina, and a palpable energy.
High mountain remoteness: Clean air and large day–night swings at ~1,800 m concentrate aroma and sweetness.
Minimalist white-tea craft: Long wither and sun-drying preserve the downy tippy character and nuanced aromatics.
Pressed for aging: Stone pressing keeps the large, intact sets whole, making storage tidy and evolution steady.

Tasting notes

Aroma: Wildflower honey, dried jujube/date, fresh hay, light broth/umami, white mushroom.
Liquor: Pale gold deepening to light amber over steeps; silky-round, medium body.
Flavor: Honeyed fruit (jujube, pear), sugarcane, meadow herbs; a tidy vegetal bitterness and a whisper of tang that add dimension.
Finish: Long hui-gan with mouthwatering shengjin, soft mineral lift, and a centering cha qi that many find pleasantly “stupefying.”

(Brewed leaves show the characteristic dark-olive hue; large, thick, stout-stemmed.)

Origin & processing

Village / Area: Suan Zao Shu, Jinggu, Yunnan (remote; final 5 km on foot)
Elevation: ~1,800 m
Trees: Old arbor (200–300 yrs) from the Li family tea garden
Season: April 2025
Craft: Hand-picked • long wither • minimal handling (no kill-green, no roast) • sun-dried • stone-pressed
Total production: 50 kg
Wrapper design: Elena Marie Honzáková
Format: 250 g per cake (7 cakes per bamboo-leaf tong)

Brewing guide

(Good water makes a big difference. Keep pours light early to highlight sweetness.)

Gongfu (recommended)

5–6 g / 100 mL
90–98 °C (194–208 °F)
Optional very quick rinse to awaken (don’t wash off the down).
Steeps: 8–10+, starting 5s • 8s • 10s • 12s • 15s, then add gradually.
Early steeps: honey/flower and soft broth; later: jujube fruit, gentle herb, clean bitterness.

Western

3 g / 300 mL (10 oz)
90–95 °C • 2–3 min
2–3 infusions, adding 20–30s each round.

Grandpa style

1–1.2 g / 100 mL
85–95 °C, top up as you sip. Ultra-easy, all-day honeyed meadow with a calm lift.

Cold brew

6–8 g / 1 L, room-temp water; refrigerate 6–8 hours.
Crisp pear, light honey, gentle herb, very low astringency.

In Summary

Caffeine: Medium-low to medium (gentle rise, steady focus)
Storage & aging: Store cool, dry, odor-free, away from light; allow mild airflow. This style ages beautifully, deepening honey/jujube and smoothing the bitterness over 3–10 years+.
Name: 2025 “Suan Zao Shu” Old Arbor White Tea
Region: Jinggu, Yunnan (remote mountain village; final 5 km by foot)
Elevation: ~1,800 m
Trees: 200–300-year-old old-arbor
Harvest: April 2025
Process: Traditional Yunnan white tea (long wither, sun-dried), stone-pressed
Net weight: 250 g per cake (7 cakes per tong)
Production: 50 kg total
Wrapper: Artwork by Elena Marie Honzáková

In short: A remote-mountain, old-arbor white tea from Suan Zao Shu honeyed fruit and meadow sweetness over soft broth and clean bitterness, finishing with a long, mouthwatering hui-gan and unmistakable cha qi stone-pressed and beautifully poised to age.

Previous Yunnan Sourcing pressings of Suan Zao Shu are listed below:

This tea has been tested in a certified laboratory for 404 pesticides, and is within the EU MRL limits set for those 404 pesticide residues. For a full list of the 404 pesticides we tested for and more information about MRL testing and the EU Food and Safety commission click on this link.

Overall rating: 5.0 / 5 from 1 reviews.

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Reviews

Taste and aroma punch

"I was searching for a nice, flavourful white tea that had good taste besides the aroma. This tea delivered and exceeded all my expectations. The aroma was allspice, pine, raisin and apricots right when I put the leaves into a preheated gaiwan. It only got amplified after a quick rinse: vanilla, rum, agar wood. The tea soup was a clear amber with a thick, viscous consistency. The brew tasted like a spice bomb (not the gas station one). Pine resin, honey, sweet aromatic wood, and allspice with slight fungal undertones. It had a certain mineral, effervescent feeling - like a rock oolong. It left a long, lingering, sweet, and warming aftertaste of Cuban-spiced rum. Although I tasted it in the scorching summer heat, I imagine that this tea would be perfect for a cold autumn morning. Either way, I used 5g of leaf in a 100ml gaiwan, with boiling water. I could make 7 consistent brews and a last boiled one, which had more of an herbal note. Although I only got a sample, I will definitely return for a full cake."

— Aron F. (5/5)