What defines a regional flight?
Pu-erh mountains are mosaics. Within a single range like Bulang or Yiwu, every village — sometimes every slope — produces tea with its own voice. A regional flight puts those voices in conversation. It brings together 4–6 young sheng (raw) cakes harvested during the same spring window, pressed from mao cha sourced directly from the villages.
The origin matters deeply. Bulang Mountain, in Menghai county, is known for teas with a muscular bitterness, thick body, and a long, sweet return. Its villages — Laoman’e, Xinbanzhang, Mannuo, Banpen — each add nuance: one more floral, another more medicinal. Yiwu Mountain, further east, is celebrated for softer, silkier pu-erh, often with apricot, honey, and forest-floor notes. Its six forest zones — Guafengzhai, Mahei, Yishanmo, Gaoshanzhai, Luoshuidong, Wangong — form the flight we offer.
Processing follows the ancient raw pu-erh path. Spring’s first flush leaves are plucked by hand, quickly fixed in a hot wok to stop oxidation, rolled to release cell juices, and sun-dried on bamboo trays into loose máo chá. Months later, that mao cha is steamed, weighed, and pressed into cakes under stone weights, wrapped in bamboo leaf. No artificial fermentation, no wet piling — just the tea, the weather, and time.
When you set the cups side by side, the flight becomes a topographical map on your palate. One village might strike with a fleeting bitterness that resolves into cooling camphor; another might coat the mouth with oily sweetness. Drinking them together, you learn to read the mountain. For a deeper dive, explore the tea.school course ‘Pu-erh Terroir: Reading the Mountains’, which takes you through the same villages with detailed cupping notes.
Current regional flights
Two detailed sets, each a window into a famous pu-erh mountain. Bulang offers dark, powerful teas from four distinct villages; Yiwu spans six forest zones known for soft, aromatic complexity.