Bing Dao Pu'er Tea has a well deserved reputation of "Queen of Tea". It gathers "fragrance, unami, sweetness, astringency and qi", can be said that Bing Dao perfectly expounds the charm of Pu'er tea. it began in 1485 when the ethnic Dai people tribute tea began in the Ming Dynasty. Since then, it has created a legend of Pu'er.
The origin of Bing Dao (meaning Ice Island) name is related to the mountainside villages dwelled by ethnic Dai people. The famous Bangma Snow Mountain in Mengku, Lincang, Yunnan is 3,200 meters above sea level. The top of the mountain is covered with snow all year round, shrouded in clouds and fog, the virgin forests there are densely covered with ancient tea trees of Da Ye Zhong (Assam) Cultivar. Thus the name Ice Island.
Lao Zhai here means 'ancient villages'. There are five villager groups under the jurisdiction of the Bing Dao Village Committee. This cake here is from the core production region of the Bing Dao village, made exclusively from the native ancient trees (Gushu) of 200-450 years old.
The the raw tea leaf curator is master Zhan Pei Hong, the Director of Lincang Tea Factory and the President of Lincang Ancient Tree Tea Association. The tea master is Feng Yu Guang, the owner of the 2 largest Gushu in Bing Dao village and has decades of experience in making Pu'er Tea. This tea cake is thus of limited edition yearly based on the master's criteria on tea leaves and his effort in the quality control of the tea's taste. As most Sheng Pu'er, aging is an important aspect. If you can resist the temptation, it can be stored up to decades for the more depth of flavors.
