'70s Tibetan tea - Jinjian 金尖

Overview: A rare Tibetan Jinjian from the 1970s, cowhide-aged, clear in the cup, soft yet deep, with balsamic, camphor and liquorice notes.
A living fragment of the ancient tea road between Sichuan and Tibet.

In June '22 we visited one of our favourite places in China: Ya'an, in central Sichuan, the door between the ancient reigns of China and Tibet, the last flourishing valley where high quality tea was produced and prepared for the transportation through the Himalayan passes, until the Tibetan lamas and royal court.

Since then, we have kept coming back year after year, opening a privileged channel with a local collector and producer that allows us to offer some of his rarities.

This Zangcha, Tibetan tea, is a Jinjian 金尖 grade, that means produced with high quality raw materials, originally for the pleasure of lamas and nobles. It was packed in cowhide, well preserved for over 40 years until present, to be flavoured in our gaiwan and teapots.

It is a dark tea, heicha 黑茶 in Chinese, with a clear liquor and soft, nuancing notes; botanic, sweet, liquorice, balsamic wood and camphor delicately surround the mouth.

Origin: Ya'an city, Sichuan province
Flush: 1970s
Format: 50 gr. from open brick samples
Storage: the leaves can be stored in their original package or in ceramic vases. Avoid heat, light, and moisture.

Besides the typical gongfucha brewing way, we advice to try boil these leaves: to do so put the 1gr. of leaves every 50-80ml of water and bring it to boiling temperature; after boiled turn off the kettle or the fire, cover the lid and wait five minutes before serving.
it will be ready and sweeter than you might imagine, and your room will be full of Sichuanese fragrances.