Vintage No.1
Tea – Aged Yancha Wulong
Origin – Unknown
We don’t know which cultivar was used, how it was processed and not even when it was made. The only information we were able to get about this tea was that it has been fired 10 times over the years. However we think precise information doesn’t matter much, tasting the tea fills us with rich old tea flavor.
It’s a quite calm tea, very comfortable to drink and a great example of roasted yancha aging. The over 10 roasts give this tea plenty of flavor. Boiling this tea is strongly recommended if not almost mandatory and will bring out all the tea flavors warming you up for many brews.
Due to the extremely brittle leaves as a result of the multiple roastings, leaves might are more broken. This is normal and still makes delicious tea.
Drink now or keep sealed to age even further.
Price is for 85 g.
Yanxun Xiaozhong 2018 (Smoked)
Tea – Smoked Black Tea
Harvest – Spring 2018
Origin – Tongmuguan, Wuyishan
This tea was produced in Tongmuguan, a Unesco world heritage protected area where tea trees grow semi-wild in a pristine environment. Unlike most areas of Wuyishan that are at relatively low elevation, Tongmu is situated at a much higher altitude and access there is restricted.
The traditional production method is quite unique among other black teas because of the use of smoke. In a building the leaves are placed on the upper floor while on the ground floor pine wood is burned. This process dries the leaves giving the tea a characteristic smoked flavor and is still carried out today by a very few farmers making it somehow hard to find.
This tea has a smoked flavor that has already settled quite a bit after a few years of aging making it lighter and balanced with the tea sweetness. The leaves are broken as it is characteristic of more common productions since this was not considered a fancy tea. The smoked flavor is quite interesting but it divides tea drinkers between those who love or hate it making Xiao Zhong one of the most unique black teas to try.
Price is for 50 g.
Midnight Rougui 2019
Tea – Yancha Wulong
Harvest – Spring 2019
Origin – a mountain on the way to Tongmuguan
This Rougui was harvested in spring 2019 but took many months of processing and multiple roasting before we release it for sale in 2020. The result is a wonderfully smooth and sweet tea that keeps interesting depth of flavor.
With complex notes including yanyun and prominent roasted notes this is a perfectly cozy tea that will be hard not to drink often.
Price is for 50 g.