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Bing Dao Gu Shu Raw Pu-erh Cake (Sheng 生) — 800-Year Ancient Tree, 2021
Other names: Bing Dao Pu-erh, Bingdao Raw Pu-erh, Bing Dao Gu Shu, Ancient-Tree Bing Dao, Lincang Raw Pu-erh, 冰岛古树生饼
This is our highest standard raw cake:
pure 800-year ancient-tree (gu shu) leaf from Bing Dao's core Di Jie Lao Zhai (地界老寨), picked in the early 2021 spring, with a rich wild-flower aroma and Bing Dao's famously enticing rock-sugar sweetness (冰糖甘), clean and silky.
Bing Dao (冰岛) is the queen of pu-erh — one of the most sought-after origins in all of Yunnan.
Most "Bing Dao" on the market is affordable for a reason: it comes from the areas surrounding Bing Dao village.
What puts this cake at the very top of our range is the material itself — genuine core-village leaf from 800-year-old ancient trees, picked in the early spring. Because that crop is so scarce, the entire harvest and processing of these cakes was overseen and supervised by dedicated personnel.
About This Cake
Our highest standard raw (Sheng) pu-erh, from Bing Dao in the Mengku area of Lincang — pure single-origin material from 800-year-old ancient tea trees, one of the rarest and most prized sources in all of pu-erh.
An early-spring picking that pours a clean, silky brew, rich in wild-flower fragrance, with the deep icing-sugar sweetness (bing tang, 冰糖) that made Bing Dao a legend.
- Type: Raw (Sheng 生) pu-erh cake, young — our highest standard
- Region: Bing Dao (冰岛), Di Jie Lao Zhai (地界老寨), Mengku, Lincang
- Tree: pure ancient-tree (gu shu, 古树) material — around 800 years old
- Flavour: rich wild-flower aroma; deep rock-sugar (bing tang) sweetness; clean and silky
- Production: 2021 spring
- Weight: 357g full cake
★ A personal note:
with a top cake like this, we actually love drinking it relatively young — you get to taste more of the pure, original leaf character before years of ageing round it away.
Essential Pu-erh Tea Accessories
A pressed cake needs a couple of tools to enjoy it at its best:
- Cake pin: to break the cake neatly, slide a cake pin in from the edge and prise gently, keeping the leaves as whole as possible.
- Vessel: for a fine Bing Dao like this, a gaiwan is the truest way to taste every steep — or a Yixing zisha pot for a rounder, fuller cup.
- Storage: keep your cake breathing in a pu-erh bamboo storage unit or an unglazed clay jar.
See the full range in our Pu-erh accessories.
Want to understand pu-erh a little better? Here's some honest, no-fluff knowledge to help you find your pu-erh.
How to Choose Your First Pu-erh
Your first pu-erh:
start with our Pu-erh Beginner's Trial Pack.
It brings together raw and ripe, loose and cake, in one box
— the easiest way to feel the difference and learn where you'd like to start next.
The quick version:
Raw (Sheng) is like sashimi — fresh, bright and a little wild;
Ripe (Shou) is like a rich, slow-cooked stew — dark, mellow and smooth, transformed by time.
Love green or white tea? Start raw — like this cake.
Love black tea, dark tea (hei cha) or roasted oolong? Start ripe — explore our Ripe (Shou) pu-erh.
Your next pu-erh: explore by region.
Scroll down — there's plenty here to help you decide. Finding a pu-erh you love is a genuinely fun journey, and Bing Dao is one of the great destinations of that journey.
Bing Dao is one of the benchmarks every pu-erh lover wants to taste at least once — a reference point for just how good Lincang can get.
Pu-erh Regions: Why Origin Shapes Taste & Price
Region is one of the biggest reasons two pu-erhs can differ so much in taste, quality and price.
Across Yunnan, tea grows on hundreds of mountains, each giving its own character — shaped by the land and the tree type (ancient-tree, arbor or plantation).
Here's how Yunnan's three core regions break down — and where this cake sits:
1. Ban-Na (西双版纳) The King of Pu-erh
Yunnan's most famous region, and home to the old and new "Six Great Tea Mountains." It splits into two very different sides:
Menghai (勐海) — bold and domineering: rich, thick flavour, powerful cha qi and a high aroma. The classic home of ripe (Shou) pu-erh.
↳ Bu-Lang Tea Mountain (布朗茶山) — its most celebrated origins: Ban Zhang (班章), Lao Man E (老曼峨) and Hekai (贺开).
Yiwu (易武) — soft and fine: a floral-honey aroma over a wild forest character, with the least bitterness of all.
2. Lincang (临沧) The Queen of Sweetness
Lincang is all about sweetness — a high, lifted aroma and a broad, generous sweetness, floral and honeyed, with barely any bitterness. It's built on the celebrated Mengku broad-leaf variety.
Best-known origins: Bing Dao (冰岛), Xigui (昔归), Xiao Hu Zhai (小户寨) and Mengku (勐库).
★ This cake is Bing Dao (冰岛) — Lincang's crown jewel and "the queen," famed above all for its clean rock-sugar sweetness.
3. Pu'er (普洱) The Birthplace
Where the name "pu-erh" began. Soft, sweet and balanced, leaning to a floral-fruity sweetness — easy and approachable.
Best-known origins: Wuliang Shan (无量山) and Kunlu Shan (困鹿山).
A handy shorthand pu-erh drinkers use:
Ban Zhang is the king (bold and powerful),
Bing Dao is the queen (sweet and smooth),
Yiwu is grace itself (soft, supple and silky).
What Decides a Pu-erh's Price?
Pu-erh prices run from everyday to eye-watering, and it helps to know what you're paying for. A few things set the price:
- Where it's grown (region): a famous mountain like Bing Dao or Lao Ban Zhang is scarce and commands top prices.
- The tree (variety & age): ancient-tree (gu shu) leaf — like this 800-year material — sits above arbor (qiao mu), which sits above plantation (tai di).
- The pick: even from the same tree, tender early-spring bud-and-tip fetches more than coarser or later leaf.
- Age, storage, grade & brand: older well-stored cakes, higher grades and single-origin gu shu all add to the price.
That's why two cakes both labelled "Bing Dao" can sit at wildly different prices — the exact village, tree age, grade and season change everything, and true gu shu from the core village is rare. So the name alone never means the same tea.
We're honest about price. This is genuinely top-tier — core-village Bing Dao from 800-year trees — so it's priced accordingly, at the top of our range.
If you'd like the Bing Dao experience at a gentler price, ask us about our other Bing Dao cakes and a 50g sample of leaf. And remember: a bigger price tag doesn't mean "better for you." Trust your tongue, not the price — which is exactly why we sample everything first.
Pu-erh, Caffeine & Antioxidants
Like all true tea from the Camellia sinensis plant, pu-erh is post-fermented and naturally contains antioxidants and caffeine — that's simply part of the leaf.
Young ancient-tree raw pu-erh like this is bright, aromatic and full of energy. If you're sensitive to caffeine, keep your leaf light and your steeps short, and enjoy it earlier in the day.
Brew this raw pu-erh the right way
— check out our professional Brewing Guide, Storage Care, and The Origins below 👇
🍵 Brewing Guide
📦 Storage & Care
🌿 The Origins
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