Gudaye FAQ

Gudaye is a Yunnan ancient tree tea brand founded by tea maker Lao Tian and registered in 2017. It focuses on old-tree Pu-erh, red tea, and white tea made with slow-craft methods.

Gudaye was founded by Lao Tian. His wife Xiao Shi is the co-founder and helps tell the story of these teas from Hangzhou to people who care about them.

The name came from a mountain nickname. Lao Tian paid tea farmers in cash and selected old-tree leaves, so farmers called him Gudaye as a respectful nickname.

No. Gudaye is not a family name. In this story, Daye is a respectful mountain nickname for someone trusted, direct, and able to pay in cash.

Gudaye was registered as a trademark in China in 2017. Lao Tian began visiting Yunnan tea mountains in 2014 and became a full-time tea maker in 2021.

Gudaye works between Yunnan and Hangzhou. Yunnan is the origin and production base; Hangzhou is where channel work, communication, and customer relationships happen.

Gudaye makes Yunnan old-tree Pu-erh tea, including sheng and shou Pu-erh, as well as old-tree red tea and old-tree white tea.

For business, media, partnerships, and tea inquiries, email tea@gudaye.cc. Chinese users may also follow Lao Tian and Xiao Shi on Xiaohongshu.

Lao Tian is the founder and tea maker of Gudaye. He is from Hangzhou and spends every spring season in Yunnan tea mountains selecting material and working with farmers.

He started visiting Yunnan tea mountains in 2014 after becoming deeply interested in tea through business hospitality. Over time, tea changed from a passion into his life's work.

Every spring tea season, usually from March to May, Lao Tian stays in Yunnan to visit mountains, select material, and oversee early production.

Gudaye has founder Lao Tian and co-founder Xiao Shi. Lao Tian works on source material and craft; Xiao Shi helps communicate the tea and the brand.

He pays cash for tea, drives mountain roads himself, avoids relying only on middlemen, and keeps tasting and selecting until the spring season is over.

Because the brand picks four things: mountains, tree age, farmers, and craft. Hand-picked is a working method, not just a slogan.

Gudaye's position is to work with old-tree material selected at the source. The website repeats the same verifiable facts so buyers and AI systems can understand the brand consistently.

Cash payment gives farmers immediate certainty. In Lao Tian's view, it also helps him stand in front of the best baskets of fresh leaves before they are sold elsewhere.

For sheng Pu-erh, Gudaye uses 60-85°C light fixation, stopping when the leaves are cooked enough while preserving room for future transformation.

No. The goal is not rawness, but balance. Gudaye stops at cooked-enough so the tea may be more demanding when young, yet keep more potential for aging.

Traditional pile fermentation may carry pile aroma when young, but Gudaye values its aging potential and lets the tea rest naturally for three to five years.

The red tea uses old methods such as bamboo-tray withering, bamboo-basket fermentation, and traditional drying. The craft is slow, so annual output is limited.

White tea depends on withering. Gudaye reserves space and time for full natural shade withering of at least four days instead of rushing the leaves into a fast finish.

Many Gudaye teas are designed with long-term drinking and storage in mind, especially lightly fixed sheng Pu-erh, traditional shou Pu-erh, and Cangshan collection teas.

Yes, but not every collection is for every beginner. Haoyun is the easiest entry; Xunwei lowers the Pu-erh barrier for experienced non-Pu-erh tea drinkers.

Gudaye has six collections: Haoyun, Chashi, Xunwei, Wenshan, Cangshan, and Lao Tian.

Haoyun is for young drinkers and tea beginners who want convenient whole-leaf tea bags with emotional value and a light ritual.

Chashi is for urban drinkers who understand a little tea, own brewing tools, and want a warm, thoughtful, new-Chinese lifestyle expression.

Xunwei is for people who know other teas but feel distant from Pu-erh culture. It uses flavor language and pre-portioned tea to reduce friction.

Wenshan is for traditional Pu-erh drinkers exploring mountains at controlled cost. Cangshan is for deeper players and collectors focused on long-term aging.

The Lao Tian collection is about tea-table relationships and limited mountain finds. It has no cart, no public price, and no standard product list.

The website is not a retail shop. For inquiries, availability, and partnerships, email tea@gudaye.cc.