Mengku "Yue Guang Bai" White Tea Roasted in Aromatic Bamboo

This is a Spring 2017 Yue Guang Bai White Tea (月光白 / Moonlight White) that has been roasted in bamboo and then cut into small sections and individually wrapped. The tea was harvested in the Da Hu Sai area of Mengku County in Lincang.

Bamboo is cut fresh and then loaded with tea and put in an electric oven. As the bamboo heats up the aromatic water vapor in the bamboo sections is released and the steam permeates the tea inside. The tea leaves are gradually loaded into the hot steaming section of bamboo, and tamped down as the tea becomes softened by the steam. Once the bamboo sections are filled with tea the sections are allow to roast in the oven for several hours and then allowed to dry further. After drying is complete the bamboo (with the tea inside) is cut into small sections and then individually wrapped.

You can brew these in a gaiwan or just drink them “grandpa style” in a cha hai or mug. We recommend you brew the bamboo piece and the tea together, but you can remove the bamboo entirely if you prefer. We find that the bamboo itself also imparts some unique flavors to the overall experience.

Each piece can be a different weight and that’s why we are selling these by weight, not per piece. Each piece can weigh between 5 and 12 grams, and the percentage of actual tea by overall weight is about 33-40%. In other words, if you order 100 grams, you’ll probably get about 33-40 grams, of tea (the rest of the weight being bamboo and the wrapper).