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Mother-Tree Da Hong Pao
Tea from six 350-year-old bushes — the last harvest sold at state auction
Before you buy
2005 auction: ~$10k+ for 20g; now reserved as state gifts
A story to discover, not a purchasable gift. Commercial Da Hong Pao is not mother-tree tea; historical auction prices are not current offers.
State auctions (historical); first-generation cuttings from Wuyi Shan gardens via specialty tea houses.
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The story
Six original Da Hong Pao bushes cling to the Jiulongke cliff in Wuyi Shan, China — 340+ years old. In 2007 the government retired them from commercial harvest; the 2005 auction of 20g fetched over $10,000. Everything sold as 'Da Hong Pao' today is cuttings — the mother trees' leaves are state gifts.
Wuyi rock tea is called 'the king of teas' — roasted, mineral, orchid-scented, it tastes like the cliff it grew on. The mother-tree version is the difference between hearing about the cliff and standing on it. Almost no living person has tasted the real thing twice.
Source & photo notes
Source review date not recorded.
Tea still life; not mother-tree Da Hong Pao.
Photo: Unsplash contributor