Learning how to identify gu shu & make maocha - The Tea Urchin

„The terms "Xiao shu" (small tree) and "tai di" (terrace plantation) are often interchangeably used, but they should be given separate meanings. "Tai di" connotes high intensity farming, with the entire slope cleared & terraced to plant hedgerows & use of pesticide & fertilizer. But in many gu shu growing villages, there are also new tea plantations which are too young to be called gu shu (ie. less than 100 years old), but they aren't exactly "tai di" either. Many of these plants are growing next to old trees, in a bio-diverse forest clearing, with lots of space around them, not all are sprayed & fertilized. In the future, they will grow into "gu shu", until then we should call them "shen tai xiao shu" (naturally grown small trees)“

„Depending on the desired product and speed, from quickest and tightest to slowest and loosest, pressing can be done by a large heavy stone, carved into the shape of a short cylinder with a handle, simply weighs a bag of tea down onto a wooden board. The tension from the bag and the weight of the stone together give the tea its rounded and sometimes non-uniformed edge. Due to the manual labor involved, this method of pressing is often referred to as: "hand" or "stone-pressing", and is how many artisanal pu'er bǐng are still manufactured.“