Verdant Tea

In 2009 the LI Family decided to set aside a fraction of their reserve-level Fo Shou Wuyi Oolong, and instead of high-firing it to remove all moisture, they allowed it to ferment with natural moisture, essentially making their own shu pu'er. This tea was still finished with yaoqing technique, making it absolutely an oolong, but with all the depth of shu pu'er. Note, this is not similar to standard aged oolong because of the unique moisture conditions. It has aged deep, dark, and foresty- a totally new hybrid style we are excited to share!

This is arguably Daping Village’s most “classic” tea. Mao Xie varietal is native to the area and grew on the mountains above Daping long before Tieguanyin was planted. Master Zhang’s labor-intensive traditional finish hearkens back to the style before the modern green oolong trend became popular and all Anxi teas were finished with at least a light roast and oxidation. Mao Xie translates to “hairy crab,” a reference to the appearance of the leaves. A classic traditional finish on Mao Xie brings out the iconic savory notes in the varietal and makes it taste almost pastry-like.

Ye Lai Xiang is named after the tuberose flower which blooms at night. This flower’s heavy scent is used in perfumes and is the inspiration for the varietal name. This Ye Lai Xiang is picked from Huang Ruiguang’s favorite high mountain plot in Wudongshan from older tree stock and meticulously hand finished by Master Huang's sons over 24 hours to bring out the deep aromatics. Master Huang's work in Dancong tasting and agriculture has won him countless awards and recognition, a biography in a 2015 published book on the history of Dancong, and leadership in every convention and tasting event in Guangdong. When Huang Ruiguang personally recommended this tea as a standout example of his reserve collection, it is hard to say no. Expect deep aromatics that linger for hours on the palate, cooling almost electric tingling yun sensation and a deep juicy sweetness that sets this tea apart. Tasting notes rarely do justice to the complexity on offer.

This is arguably Daping Village’s most “classic” tea. Mao Xie varietal is native to the area and grew on the mountains above Daping long before Tieguanyin was planted. Master Zhang’s labor-intensive traditional finish hearkens back to the style before the modern green oolong trend became popular and all Anxi teas were finished with at least a light roast and oxidation. Mao Xie translates to “hairy crab,” a reference to the appearance of the leaves. A classic traditional finish on Mao Xie brings out the iconic savory notes in the varietal and makes it taste almost pastry-like.

The Bai Rui is the Winter Daphne, a flower native to China with an intensely sweet fruity aroma. This rich incense-forward varietial shares those heady perfumed overtones with its namesake, along with the rare and sought-after yun xiang, the cooling tingling sensation that build up in the back of the throat. The Li Family finishes their Bai Rui Xiang as a ‘reserve’ quality tea, using a meticulous twelve hour hand-firing to bring out deep complexity. The minerality of the family’s volcanic rocky mountainside plot comes through as a textural foundation for the spices to build on, resulting in a balanced, beautifully structured Wuyi Oolong.

Huang Ruiguang's family Mi Lan Dancong is picked only once a year from single trees that are not pruned back to encourage deeper roots & more robust flavor, year after year. His mountain plot and decades of work in improving agriculture techniques for the region have earned Huang Ruiguang's Mi Lan awards such as the recent 2015 Gold Medal at the Sixth Guangdong Tea Expo. This Mi Lan is allowed to naturally oxidize for over 24 hours before being carefully spread, baked and tumbled. The oxidation creates a deep rich black tea flavor, but Mi Lan varietal’s natural juicy floral honey flavor still comes through strong.

Only a dozen kilos of this unusual tea were picked this year. The entire batch was hand picked and processed solely by Li Xiangxi's brother. We are excited to have the opportunity to share a large part of the harvest with you, and to try it for ourselves! The name Purple Buds refers to the color of the buds after picking but before processing. They are actually a light purple green on the tea bush and have a uniquely tropical flavor that sets them apart as a rare and intriguing black tea.

Qilan varieties is almost legendary for its deep luscious orchid notes and its subtle incense spice. The Li Family cultivates established 40+ year Qilan bushes on their rocky volcanic mountainside plot in the Wuyishan Ecological Preserve, letting the tea build complexity through biodiverse plantings, and carefully preserved natural forest cover. They hand-pick their Qilan and expertly bring out the florals through hand-crafting over a meticulous 12 hour turning and fluffing process called yaoqing. The careful and restrained roast on this Qilan really allows the florals to shine through, bolstered by the rocky minerality that the Li Family’s teas are famous for.

Master Zhang takes his Special Grade designation seriously. In order for a batch to be set aside as Special Grade, it has to meet an incredibly high standard of sweetness, a long lingering aftertaste, and thick balanced texture and evocative aroma. It takes the perfect combination of high elevation rocky soil, cool stand-out weather during the growing season and on the picking and finishing days. In the autumn it is even rarer to get these perfect windows, so we are excited to be sharing this harvest for teh first time. This extremely limited special grade Tieguanyin was hand-picked and hand finished over an exhaustive day and a half fluffing and turning process to bring out deep intense florals and creamy texture. The true flavor of the Tieguanyin varietal is preserved with Master Zhang’s expert green finish.

To produce a Special Grade offering requires perfect weather, perfectly situated old-growth tea stock, shaded by mist through the spring, expert hand-picking and critically, an exhaustive production process of small batch hand yaoqing and five to six rounds of hand-firing. The Li Family is only able to produce a few kilos of this special tea every year. Li Xiangxi sets aside a small allotment for us because she loves Shui Jin Gui varieties so much that she wants to share what she thinks is one of the truest expressions of Wuyishan with interested tea lovers outside of China. Tasting notes can’t capture the critical tingling cooling sparkling sensation that is yun and the way that it lingers in the back of the throat, building with each sip and letting each steeping build on the potency of the one before.

Master Zhang excels at finishing his traditional Tieguanyin. He works to bring out the florals and strengthen them, allowing the green quality of the tea to shine through while providing a sweet and nuanced counterbalance through delicate roasting. This is the tea that Master Zhang grew up with and his greatest passion. The mist shaded mountain air and sweet spring water make this true Tieguanyin varietal tea even more nuanced.

Ye Lai Xiang is named after the tuberose flower which blooms at night. This flower’s heavy scent is used in perfumes and is the inspiration for the varietal name. This Ye Lai Xiang is picked from Huang Ruiguang’s favorite high mountain plot in Wudongshan from older tree stock and meticulously hand finished by Master Huang's sons over 24 hours to bring out the deep aromatics. Master Huang's work in Dancong tasting and agriculture has won him countless awards and recognition, a biography in a 2015 published book on the history of Dancong, and leadership in every convention and tasting event in Guangdong. When Huang Ruiguang personally recommended this tea as a standout example of his reserve collection, it is hard to say no. Expect deep aromatics that linger for hours on the palate, cooling almost electric tingling yun sensation and a deep juicy sweetness that sets this tea apart. Tasting notes rarely do justice to the complexity on offer.