Raw Puer Tea | Jia Wu Ma Yun 甲午马云 Year 2014 (5x200G)

Spring, 2014. During one of my tea tours in Yunnan, I met someone in a village off the beaten path deep in the grand mountains of Xishuangbanna. There, rock outcrops in curious shapes abound and sinewy roots of ancient trees snaked across the ground. An impenetrable veil of mist in the distance and endless trails carving through the terrain provided a perfect backdrop for this faraway land.

Quite a character, the person presented me with a highly unusual tea. The broad tealeaves were harvested from ancient tea trees grown in the area. On the palate, distinct rocky minerality stood out. While the tea has a hint of Wuyi Crag Tea and Banzhang Puer, it is unique with a character of its own.

Thrilled beyond words, I took the entire stock of tea cakes. The tea was named “Jia Wu Ma Yun”, to commemorate the chance find of a tea gem during the Jia Wu Year of 2014 by a Malaysian (Ma) tea aficionado in Yunnan (Yun), which fulfilled an aspiration to build a collection of exquisite tea for storage.

The following year, the Yi Wei Year of 2015, I acquired another batch of raw tealeaves and named the finished product “Yi Wei Ma Yun”.

Given the unique appeal and its small yield (in order to not disrupt the ecosystem), “Ma Yun” is packed in stacks of five 200-gram cakes each. The fact that there are less than a thousand in total speaks volume about the tea’s rarity.

The source of this tea is no longer available; the now discontinued Malaysian Storage “Ma Yun” Collections have become much coveted collector’s items.

Brewing Hints

Break off a well-sized portion of tea leaves from the tea cake, add to brewing vessel until ¼ filled. Pour in freshly boiled water at 85°C-95°C and drain the tea infusion immediately. 1st brew is not for drinking, the purpose is for the tea leaves to unfurl and moisten. This helps release the full flavour of tea for a satisfying brew.

For 2nd brew, refill the brewing vessel with about 30 Seconds to extract the full flavour. Pour and Serve. It is good for several brews. Re-steep the leaves in a similar manner to enjoy the tea as it develops from steep to steep; continue re-steeping until the leaves are exhausted of flavour.