The Musty Mystery of Xiaguan’s 2004 Nanzhao Tuo
Pour yourself a cup for this one: The Xiaguan 2004 Nanzhao tuo raw puer is a revelation—or a riddle. This is your first encounter with a traditionally Taiwan-stored sheng pu’er, and it’s doing something strange. No smokiness, no immediate wow factor, just a slow unraveling of flavors that feel more like a mystery than a masterpiece. The tea’s evolution is deliberate, its character shaped by decades in a paper box. The first steep is a whisper of light sweetness, like a bakery note caught in a breeze. It’s clean, almost too clean, but the second steep introduces a musty basement…