White Sand Well Ripe Pu-erh

The name of this tea tells the story. When Wang Zong dug the well at his tea factory, he found layers of white sand acted as a natural filtration system. The water from the well is sweet to the taste, as we experienced during our visit. He uses the well water to ferment the tea, during the Wo Dui (渥堆 - "wet piling") stage. The resulting shu Pu-erh is very smooth, without the earthy flavor, but still rich and thick in the mouth and throat. A hint of sweetness remains, rare for ripe Pu-erh.

We sampled the tea at the factory, and asked Wang Zong if he also used the well water for brewing the tea. When he said 'yes', we asked for a sample to take home. After all, we don't all have white sand wells in our backyard! But even with our filtered home water, the brewed tea retains its magical qualities.

The raw material for this tea is from Yiwu Mountain - a region famous for their raw Pu-erh. It is rare to have ripe Pu-erh made from such high grade leaves. Though still young - the leaves were harvested in 2022 and pressed into cakes in 2026 - this tea is already elegant and refined, with calm and relaxing cha qi (tea energy).

The tea cake wrapper bears the symbol of the well, along with the text "hand-made tea". As with all of Wang Zong's teas, it's not just marketing; we watched the process of fermenting, sorting, pressing, and wrapping the cakes - all done by hand at his factory.

This tea comes in a 100 gram compressed tea cake. The leaves are loosely pressed, so it can be broken by hand, or you can use a tea pick (or even a butter knife). Insert the knife into the outer edge of the cake and gently pry back and forth to loosen the leaves. If you're new to Pu-erh, or not ready for a full cake, we also offer 50 gram bags of already broken down leaves.