Moonlight Dragon Ball White Tea

Yue Guang Bai, also known as Moonlight Beauty, is a special type of pu-erh. This tea is made through the same processes of Fuding white tea, which is why it is also considered a white tea. This tea is made entirely from ancient trees in Jinggu, one of the largest growing areas in Pu’er City known for its high-quality white tea; as a result, the fresh leaves are rich in nutrients and have a strong fragrance when dry and a rich, remarkable taste when brewed that lasts through many infusions.

This tea is made with material from the Jinggu Dabai variety of tea push, with the plucking standard of one leaf to one bud. It is entirely handmade, and each dragon ball is individually wrapped in white paper that serves well for collection, storage, and transportation. When brewed this tea gives a crystal-clear and bright liquid, with a light honey fragrance accompanied by a hint of an aroma of dried dates.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	203℉ / 95℃		203℉ / 95℃
	1 piece		1 piece
	Brewing time: 5 - 8 mins		11 steeps: rinse, 50s, 60s, 70s, 40s, 30s, 20s, 20s, 30s, 50s, 70s, 100s
			Rinse time is around 5 seconds

The fresh leaves for this tea come from the Jiu Tai Po tea garden in Pu’er City, at a peak elevation of just above 2000 meters. This tea garden is surrounded by a variety of other ecological tea plantations, such as the Taidi Cha (plantation tea) growing area, and old and ancient tea tree reservations. The latter two of these are located at a relatively higher elevation in Jiu Tai Po tea garden, thick with forests.

This garden is located at an altitude where no cars can pass nearby, so it must be accessed by climbing the mountain on foot; this means that the tea is growing in a natural environment here, without human intervention. Poultry manure is considered one of the best plant fertilizers up here, and it is used abundantly.

In recent years, Jiu Tai Po tea garden has begun to grow Taidi Cha, which comes from the Jinggu Dabai Cha varietal. The leaves from Daiba Cha are more expensive than those from older tea trees, so you don’t need to worry about buying a half-fake tea mixed with Taidi Cha and old tree leaves.

With more than thirty years of experience in making tea, Mr. Yang, as well as the over farmers of Huidi village, make their living by selling tea. Mr. Yang was the first to produce dragon ball black teas with fresh flowers, and when we asked him about this, he told us, “There is already a very special blend of pu-erh with rose and chrysanthemums, which is where I got the idea for doing the same thing with black teas.” After this, he started his experiments to do so, and eventually found that Dian Hong black tea is perfect for rolling into the larger dragon ball tea.

Following this success, he began to challenge himself in making other types of dragon ball teas, many of which include other kinds of flowers. Some of these include rose, chamomile, jasmine, and forget-me-not dragon ball black tea. This ancient tree dragon ball pu-erh tea is the result of one of his experiments using pure tea leaves, another of which is Moonlight Beauty dragon ball white tea.

Pu’er City, formerly called Simao, is a prefecture-level city in the southern Yunnan province. The elevation here ranges between about 300 and 3400 meters above sea level, and the area has a vast range of ancient tea trees. This city was identified as the hometown of pu-erh tea, and is well-known as the ‘birthplace of tea’ in general, and the heartland for tea trees in the world. It has a rich variety of resources, which can generally be divided into three types: original wild ancient tea trees, and wild tree populations; transitive-type ancient trees; and cultivation-type ancient trees.

These trees grow in high altitudes among ancient forests, and all of the region’s natural ecosystems have been well-protected to ensure quality. According to the 2007 satellite survey results, these old tree resources cover more than 100mu in Pu’er City.

Jinggu Dabai Cha is an arbor tree from Mt. Kuzhu in Jinggu County. These particular plants grow widely around the local area, naturally reaching 4-5m with thick trunks and sparse branches. It is characterized by its large, soft tea leaves and plump, fuzzy greenish-white buds.

The Spring harvest for this tea, picked with one bud and two leaves, has high amounts of soluble compounds: 3.8% amino acids, 29.9% polyphenols, 5.2% caffeine, 15.3% catechin, and 46.7% water extractives. Therefore it has a rich flavor, and leaves a sweet aftertaste in the mouth. Tea from Jinggu Dabai Cha excellently presents the special features of Yunnan large-leaf varietals, which are also good bases for making high-quality pu-erh teas.

An enthralling legend has been connected to Moonlight Beauty tea in Bulang culture. It states that long ago there was a beautiful young Dai princess living in Xishuangbanna, kind and intelligent, named Seven Princess. The friendly relations between the Dai and Bulang nationalities led to her marriage to a handsome young Bulang man, and with the princess’s help, the Bulang people learned to plow, sow, and craft tea. She was later honored as the tea goddess of the Bulang people. The Moonlight Beauty tea was chosen as a tribute to her, as the people agreed that this tea embodied the wisdom and beauty of Seven Princess.