Old Tree Lapsang

This Old Tree Lapsang comes from Wuyi Cai Cha varietal, the tea trees that were growing wild long ago, and continue now. The centuries old trees produce a small amount of leaves each year, there at the birthplace of red tea at 1200-1400 meters in Tongmu Pass, Fujian. Quite a rare treat, these moss covered trees produce a clean flavor and deep nourishing energy.

This year's Old Tree Lapsang contains a complexity of flavors with a seemingly pure and straightforward feel—a winning combination. Our favorite note is a cherry cola—combining its sweet aroma with its darker tones.

Peddler's note: My nickname for this tea is the cave of wonders—it just leads deeper and deeper.

2025 Harvest

Pesticide-free

Label 43

Tiger Steeping 

Vibrant Stillness

Sitting with their timeless steep, the tiger appears ageless. Their upright posture aligns their circulatory pathways, allowing for deep relaxation in the caverns of their being. As pockets of tension dissolve, their thoughts become more subtle. With amulets of tea, scarabs, and small spirit-maps of the four directions to support them, the tiger cultivates a bright and vibrant stillness. Their muscles look springy and youthful. Their piercing mismatched eyes and grizzled features give a weathered and intensely wise countenance. 

The white tiger looks directly into your eyes and awakens a brave, relaxed awareness in your heart. Brave because it must accept whatever it meets. Relaxed because the receptivity of an uncluttered mirror is a delicate matter that cannot be made with force. Forceful imposition covers the mirror.

Even Odin, the most powerful of the Aesir, had to be brave when gazing into Mimir’s well. He sacrificed one eye so that he could truly see. Courage to offer it, softness in surrender, deep relaxation to see clearly with the one that remained—now turned inward.

When the white tiger has a question, they let it steep in their porcelain pot, which is their well of insights. Sacrificing preconceived ideas, their query unravels and soaks with the tea leaves. There is pleasure in the lingering pause of the intensifying brew. As they sit and steep, the tiger’s tail coils into an antenna attuning to what the mind cannot grasp—their spirit reaching out to touch a reservoir of energy and inspiration that need not be conceptualized. Stripes of insight and openness weave in and out.  When they invite you to tea, they invite you into the intensity of timeless awareness, where the subtleties of consciousness are as bold and vivid as the complex layers of their old tree lapsang.