For centuries, puerh tea has been aged, collected and auctioned like wine - in Asia.

Now, we introduce its magic to the West.

The cost of your ticket is fully redeemable against tea purchases on the day.

Puerh is tea that comes from centuries-old trees, pressed and fermented in a special environment to develop its intricate taste and Qi-altering qualities. In Asia, puerh is auctioned for up to £100k per tea cake.

Since the 1950s, as the puerh trade in Asia grew, puerh cakes were almost exclusively made from young plantation bushes. Only in the late 90s was the lost art of ancient tree puerh re-discovered, by a group of Taiwanese pioneers that included Chen Huay Yuan. In 2001, Chen Huay Yuan pressed his first cakes under the Chen Yuan Hao name from 100% pure old-tree leaves. He was one of a very small number of people who brought the practice back, and those early cakes are now among the rarest puerh of their era. He has since gone on to make single-estate cakes from individual gardens, and every one still carries an inner ticket that he signs himself.

He travels with his wife, Lu Min-Hua, a tea aesthetics expert in her own right, who heads the Yi Ming Xuan Tea Art Centre and is tea art director of the Taiwan Tea Culture Association. She will lead much of the conversation on the day.

This November, on their way back from the Berlin Tea Festival, they are spending a day in London pouring for a small number of guests, and we would love you to be one of them.

What happens on the day

Over three hours, you'll taste three teas, each brewed several times by Chen Huay Yuan and Lu Min-Hua, who will talk about the mountain, the garden and the trees each tea came from, and you'll start to notice how differently the teas behave in the cup. There will be time for questions along the way, and at the end of the session the teas you've tasted will be available to take home.

Morning session: ancient tree, young to aged

10:00–13:00

This session is for anyone who wants to understand what pure ancient-tree puerh is and how it changes as it ages.

We will drink some outstanding examples of 100% pure ancient tree puerh teas and learn how to judge their purity guided by the master himself.

Afternoon session: the rarest CYH

14:00–17:00

Some of the rarest aged CYH sheng puerh, including the 2007 Yiwu Chawang and the 2002 CYH Yiwu, one of the very first pure ancient-tree cakes of its era. The 2002 isn't for sale in our shop, so this is a rare chance to taste it in the company of the man who made it.

You can book either session, or both. The cost of your ticket is fully redeemable against tea purchases on the day. This is an intimate event for just 12 guests per session, held in a private residence near Kilburn, and we'll send you the full address with your ticket.

Food is not provided, but you're very welcome to bring your own or pick something up from the shops nearby.

Who it's for

The tasting is for people who love fine tea, whether you've been drinking and collecting puerh for years or have recently started building a collection of your own and want to understand it more deeply.

Paolo, Chen Yuan Hao

Description supplied by the event organiser.