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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!
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.
This year is the sixth fantastic harvest of the He Family's new osmanthus-scented black tea. Once again, the He Family is sharing a rich reserve-level Autumn Harvest Laoshan Black, scented during finishing with tiny hand-picked Laoshan Osmanthus flowers. The brown sugar, honey and fruity chocolate notes are melded together perfectly with the luscious almost creamy floral of the He Family’s meticulously hand-harvested Osmanthus blossoms. This tea is one of the hardest to make in the He Family collection since the local osmanthus blossoms are so small that they have to pick thousands just to make tiny batch of finished tea, but the results are worth the effort.
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. Once again, 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.
This is Master Zhang's absolute highest designation competition-level Tieguanyin, a rare allocation that we are pleased to offer for the first time ever. Most years Master Zhang is unable to set aside a traditional-finish Special Grade, as it requires a perfect alignment of weather, deep-rooted old-growth tea bushes, and perfect craft. Any special Grade designation from Master Zhang must meet his serious standards in terms of having the longest aftertaste, tingling, electrical after-sensation, juicy, mouth-watering sweetness and enveloping aromatics. When a picking is a candidate for meeting these standards it is set aside for full traditional hand-finishing, and even when completed, is only called Special Grade if the result warrants this rare label.
The He Family is known for their bold willingness to innovate, and this singular tea is a perfect example of the way they push the boundaries of genre. Wild-picking Laoshan osmanthus and using it to scent buddy resrev-level black tea is still a new craft in Laoshan, just a few years old, but the results have been spectacular, juicy, a and almost oolong-like. This year, He Qingqing wanted to push the idea of oolong inspiration, borrowing roasting craft from Wuyishan and giving her family's black tea a special secondary wood-firing to bring out deep toasty depth. The results really are in the style of teas like Tieluohan. Instead of overwhelming the osmanthus, the roast balances it, adding depth to the honeyed dessert-like qualities of the He Family's black tea.
Jingdezhen is the ultimate in professional-level tea tasting. This high-fired porcelain is unparalleled, and used at the competition level for the way it shows a tea's truest “highest resolution” flavor, texture and aroma. We are lucky to work with the talented Yong Jing Tang Workshop, where they hand-throw every Jingdezhen piece for perfect precision and hand paint each beautiful adornment. The result is a level of teaware that is hard to even capture in photos, pieces that glow in the light and are a true pleasure to hold and sip from. This set features a hand painted gaiwan, two hand-painted cups and a hand-painted pitcher for an elegant tea set ready to show off the finest teas.
This stunning, vibrant tea set includes a gaiwan and four tasting cups, all meticulously hand-thrown, carefully air-dried, carved down exquisitely thin, high-fired, glazed and re-fired for an exquisite, fully non-reactive tea set ready for professional tasting. The whole set comes in a travel case so you can take your gallery-level Jingdezhen porcelain on the go!
This motif makes use of the stunning contrast between lustrous, nearly glowing white of the Jingdezhen porcelain itself and the deep ocean-blue of the glazing. Each piece is adorned with an abundant wreath, while the gaiwan features spring blooms forming an embroidery-style medallion. Hand-thrown and carved, each of the three pieces of this gaiwan need to be fired individually, and have to come together perfectly, even after shrinking 30-40% in firing- a feat of precision. The high-fired porcelain is fully vitrified and non-reactive, amplifying the aroma of your tea. Pouring with a Jingdezhen gaiwan like this is truly special- the pieces have a feeling in the hand, a balance, unlike anything else.
This gaiwan is inspired by traditional architectural wood carving that might adorn a scholar's studio or garden pavilion. The beautiful motif is entirely hand-painted in meticulous and even detail. Hand-thrown and carved, each of the three pieces of this gaiwan need to be fired individually, and have to come together perfectly, even after shrinking 30-40% in firing- a feat of precision. The high-fired porcelain is fully vitrified and non-reactive, amplifying the aroma of your tea. Pouring with a Jingdezhen gaiwan like this is truly special- the pieces have a feeling in the hand, a balance, unlike anything else.
Almost art-deco in style, this motif is inspires by intricate metalwork that might adorn a formal garden lattice. The bright true white contrasts beautifully with thin deep lines of Jingdezhen blue. This cup was fully handmade- from throwing it on the wheel, to carving it down to a translucent, paper-thin form, to painting every detail. The high-firing vitrifies the porcelain, making it fully non-reactive to amplify the true aroma of your tea.
Breathtaking detail and precision celebrate Jingdezhen’s iconic blue glazing with this gallery-level teacup depicting the first blossoms of spring in a thatched geometric pattern highlighting fields of lighter blue against deep blue. This cup was fully handmade- from throwing it on the wheel, to carving it down to a translucent, paper-thin form, to painting every detail. The high-firing vitrifies the porcelain, making it fully non-reactive to amplify the true aroma of your tea..
The traditional lotus petal motif that surrounds this cup evokes Buddhist iconography and representation of refinement coming from the earth. Fitting, since this translucent, thin, stunning piece was itself refined from “mud,” the secret mixture of minerals that produce fine porcelain under the right heat. Fully hand-thrown, hand carved and hand-painted, this is a teacup to celebrate the very best teas.
The stunning detail work on this fully handmade tea cup truly sets it apart - unique fine motifs inspired by floral embroidery grace this translucently thin Jingdezhen tea cup. The high-fired porcelain amplifies the aromatics of your tea, giving your best brews a cup that makes them feel as special as they are
This fully hand made Jingdezhen porcelain cup and saucer is hand painted in traditional blue and white (qing hua) with red accent. Bats - representing good fortune or (in Buddhism) the five blessings - fly above beautifully rendered crashing waves on both the cup and saucer. The porcelain is fine and lustrous, thin and translucent in the light. Each color in this piece is fired separately at different temperature; to complete the the form and painting of a fully hand made piece like this, it requires the work of many different specialized craftspeople over several days.