2022 BangDong JiGushu Single King Tree (T5*, Benchmark)

Highlights:

• 1 single King (biggest) tree, 6kg maocha
• Extremely ancient tree, likely the oldest you will ever drink
• Among the most refined puerh in the world
• Very sweet, low astringency, ethereal, perfect “rich water” taste
• Extremely body and mind comfortable Qi
• Strong enticing complex aromas

Possibly the most refined puerh you ever had, and very likely the oldest tree.

This is for you if you’re a seasoned puerh drinker with good discerning ability, seeking that ethereally light taste perfection that’s close to water and so deeply satisfying in its subtlety. Paired with extremely comfortable Qi that leaves you feeling subtly joyful and your body at ease. The pure unadulterated King tree experience.

This is likely not for you if you’re used to the harshness of factory cakes, plantation and small trees. This is not “regular ancient tree Puerh but stronger” (try Laos Chawang for that), but a much more refined taste that serious tea lovers treasure and in general only experts ancient tree puerh seekers can fully understand. Drinking enough of this tea will probably turn you into an expert pretty quickly, but you probably want to try some of the other Benchmark teas to fully ‘get’ what’s so special about this one.

Even if you only drink older Puerh this one is so sweet-soft it feels more comfortable than 20 year old factory cakes. You are unlikely to (ever?) be able to buy another tea from tree this old.

How old are these trees?

All tree ages are approximations, and one should always doubt when an age is given as a single number. There are no certain scientific methods to identify the age of a tea tree. The only possible way to tell how old (and healthy) a certain tree is is by drinking its leaves and comparing it to its neighbours: the older the tree is, the thicker the soup and the more comfortable the ChaQi and your body in general.

The consensus among the most reliable tea experts about the age of the oldest standard puerh varietal trees in BangDong tea area is approx. 500-1200 years (some people say less or more than these numbers too!). However people, even experts, have very different opinions about what age of tree is in a specific area.

So there always is uncertainty in this topic and we won’t pretend otherwise, we simply say: If you or your favourite expert think there are 800/1000+ years old in BangDong, this is one such tree. This is a genuine King tree (6kg maocha), the best category of ancient tree available in the area. Best largely means oldest, but healthiest/biggest is also very important.

You can find more details about reference tree ages on the Benchmark ancient tree introduction under “Age of trees”.

Puerh.uk Benchmark Ancient Tree Series Introduction

• The best possible ancient tree tea that can be obtained in a given specific garden
• Our most significant contribution to making available a type of puerh that was not available before
• Super strict quality criteria (standard puerh varietal only, classic puerh areas only, 1st spring pick, extremely clean environment, ancient trees that have never been cut, healthiest and biggest trees only chosen for single trees production)

The best tea is not for sale, it’s available only through relationships. Tier 5 is about 0.01% of available Puerh, with ancient tree leaves only with all taste qualities present in overwhelming amount, tea that is basically only found in elite asian circles and via private connections.

Benchmark ancient tree Puerh is a subset of Tier 5, and particularly means: this is highest expression of ancient tree puerh from a specific garden, so it can be used as “benchmark” to tell whether other puerh is truly ancient tree or not.

Puerh of this quality has never been made before in history (only in the last 10 years), this is the most exciting frontier of tea at the moment as far as we’re concerned. Please see the full Benchmark ancient tree introduction page for more info.

30g ceramic jars (a bit more than 1oz) containing chunks of cake, 200g cakes.