From Mengku’s ancient gardens to the Russian steppe — selected by Amgalan Chin
Every spring, I travel to Lincang’s Mengku mountains, where old arbor trees push their first flush above 1,600 metres. In 2024, the weather gave us a slow, cool start — leaves thickened, bitterness softened, and the sugars concentrated into a honeyed sweetness rare even for this region. I spent three days with a small family-run workshop, tasting maocha straight from the pan, tracking how the kill-green and rolling were handled by feel, not timer. The result is a sheng that sidesteps the bold structures of Bulang or the lush easy fruit of Yiwu — it’s an alpine lightness, a thread of white peach and wildflower that lingers without weight. I’ve chosen this cake specifically for the marketplace because it shows young sheng’s elegance, and with time, it will grow into a soft, golden, deeply comforting tea. From my own cellar in Ulaanbaatar to your gaiwan, this Mengku 2024 is a map of sweetness and cool air.