From a high-elevation Hani village to your cup
Amgalan Chin first visited this Nannuo Shan hamlet in late March 2025, trekking up old stone paths lined with tea trees older than the tea trade itself. The Hani farmers, meticulous in their garden care, harvested only the top bud and two leaves from each shoot, choosing a cool, overcast morning to lock in the mountain’s freshness. The leaves were withered on bamboo trays in the mountain breeze, then lightly pan-fired over iron woks, twisted by hand, and spread under a thin sun until the moisture dropped to just right. Pressing followed a stone-lever method that preserved the leaf’s cellular structure — a technique Amgalan insisted upon to safeguard the tea’s energy. The resulting cake shows the altitude: crisp, clean, and deeply aromatic, carrying the chill of the high slopes and the warmth of the village hearth. Amgalan sees this sheng as a bridge between the pure, floral youth of Nannuo and the structured characteristics he’s known from his work along the Russian–Mongolian trade routes — a tea destined to age gracefully, gaining depth without ever losing its bright core.