Verdant Tea

This bundle includes five 25g bags of oolong tea for 125g total (25 sessions). Zhang Rongde has devoted his life to creating a sustainable biodiverse future for Daping Village, travelling the world to study with master of every tea region and returning to Daping with a vision to bring Tieguanyin and other local varietals to a new level. His tea fields benefit from sweet mountain spring water, ample natural forest cover, rich wildlife and perpetual high mountain mist protecting delicate leaves from the sun.

This collection has been put together as the ultimate introduction to Master Zhang’s craft and the natural beauty of tea from the Daping microclimate. You’ll be able to taste Master Zhang’s award-winning and standard-setting Tieguanyin, as well as unusual cultivars and experimental new finishing styles like Original Wulong Revival, researched from ancient techniques. While Master Zhang brings out different aromatics in every tiny hand-finished batch, this collection will give you a full sense of the regions deep sweet minerality, thick intense backbone, and lingering sweetness.

This bundle includes four 25g bags and five five gram bags of Anxi oolong tea for 125g total (25 sessions). With one of the highest elevation, most pristine perfectly-situated plots for Tieguanyin in the world, it would make perfect sense for Master Zhang to devote every inch of land to this famous and in-demand varietal. Yet, Master Zhang does the opposite. Over the last decade, he has reclaimed the majority of his Daping mountainside for bamboo, evergreens and wildflowers. The precious rocky terraces he has left, carved into steep hills, he devotes not just to the famous Tieguanyin, but to dozens of rare, unknown varietals.

Master Zhang fosters these tiny groves of rare tea to preserve biodiversity and have a local “seed bank” of sorts, allowing hearty individual tea bushes to grow and thrive in Daping so that other farmers and colleagues could grow new plants from cuttings, and study the way their famous terroir changes with each varietal.

The benefit for all of us is getting to dive deep and experience rare out there flavors, textures and aromas- all unique expressions of Master Zhang’s craft and terroir. Every tea in this kit expresses the "core" sweet minerality of Daping, but from unique and incredible perspectives not often tasted in a region so dedicated to Tieguanyin.

This bundle includes three 25g bags of aged oolong tea for 75g total (15 sessions). Master Zhang Rongde has been making oolongs for over fifty years. Over the course of his career he has championed sustainable farming, taught finishing techniques to all of Daping Village, and researched ancient and nearly lost fishing techniques. He has also set aside some of his favorite harvests over the years for long term aging- taking out these precious Tieguanyin reserves and re-roasting them yearly to meticulously control for moisture.

This tasting kit is a chance to truly taste Zhang Rongde’s life work- Tieguanyin aged from the mid 80’s all the way through the early 2000’s. His oldest teas have picked up deep complex cooling herbaceous complexity and deep sweet aftertaste. Taste them back to back to see how extra years transform Tieguanyin- and to see how Master Zhang has preserved their deep aromatic floral core through over 30 years. Thanks to a long friendship and partnership with Master Zhang Rongde, he continues to open his precious reserves to us so that he can share true Tieguanyin with the world.

Expect deep, complex, evocative oolongs that are profoundly settling, with long aftertastes and powerful aromas.

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.

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. Master Zhang's award-winning technique brings out the deep fruit and dark florals that don't have a chance to shine in greener, more modern finishes. This is the tea that Master Zhang grew up with and is his greatest passion. The mist shaded mountain air and sweet spring water make this true Tieguanyin varietal tea even more nuanced.

True Tieguanyin varietal stands out for its deep lingering aftertaste, big texture, and the ability to steep out over many infusions. Master Zhang has honed his Tieguanyin cultivation techniques and finishing process over forty years of experimentation, earning the respect of the entire Daping area as a teacher and community leader. He utilizes organic farming techniques, encourages biodiversity, and advocates against wasteful irrigation to encourage healthy and deeply complex and nuanced tea. This modern green style Tieguanyin requires an intense turning and fluffing process in finishing that needs to be adapted on the spot depending on the weather and the aroma, requiring deep experience.

Master Zhang's work has won awards at conferences in Fujian and Guangdong for his incredible craft in traditional Tieguanyin finishing. This autumn, we are excited to once again offer his reserve designation harvest with a traditional finish, undoubtedly Master Zhang's favorite tea to make and share with friends. Master Zhang's award-winning technique brings out the deep fruit and dark florals that don't have a chance to shine in greener, more modern finishes. Instead of simply designating his higher elevation teas as "Reserve," Master Zhang holds back this title to only the very few pickings that meet his criteria of intense aroma, lingering pervasive aftertaste, rich deep florals, light cooling sensations, and creamy texture. The conditions while picking and processing only rarely come together to facilitate a tea that hits every thing that Master Zhang strives for. This limited harvest embraces his award-winning ideals for a stunning brew.

Master Zhang has worked for over four decades continuing his family's craft growing true Tieguanyin varietal tea high above Daping village in Anxi. He is working to bring back the original habitat of the region by clearing mountainsides and planting trees, bringing back wildlife and biodiversity, for better tea and a better future. He has won awards across China and has been recognized as one of the leading teachers and craftsman in Anxi for his unique approach to grading teas and processing for flavor. Instead of grading solely by elevation or tree age, Master Zhang holds the "Reserve" designation for the few teas that meet his strict criteria of lingering intensive aftertaste, pervasive sweetness, and thick creamy body. This means that only the leaves whose weather, position in the field and processing come together perfectly can be offered as Master Zhang's reserve. This reserve grade Tieguanyin was hand-picked and hand finished with an exhaustive fluffing and turning process to bring out deep intense aromatics and creamy texture.

Yun is a complex concept. While it can be literally translated as “charm," the yun of a tea is more than simple appeal – yun is what makes the tea powerful and lingering beyond the common concept of aftertaste. Only the finest teas have a perceptible quality that would be described by professional Chinese tasters as yun. While there is no complete agreement on how to put "yun" into words, we notice a light cooling sensation and a tingling almost electrical texture on teas that have yun. This feeling builds up with every sip, making subsequent steepings more and more commanding. Master Zhang creates this through careful charcoal roasting over several long sessions and many days, relying on his experience and senses to get the finish perfectly right.

Master Zhang's work has won awards at conferences in Fujian and Guangdong for his incredible craft in traditional Tieguanyin finishing. This autumn, we are excited to once again offer his reserve designation harvest with a traditional finish, undoubtedly Master Zhang's favorite tea to make and share with friends. Master Zhang's award-winning technique brings out the deep fruit and dark florals that don't have a chance to shine in greener, more modern finishes. Instead of simply designating his higher elevation teas as "Reserve," Master Zhang holds back this title to only the very few pickings that meet his criteria of intense aroma, lingering pervasive aftertaste, rich deep florals, light cooling sensations, and creamy texture. The conditions while picking and processing only rarely come together to facilitate a tea that hits every thing that Master Zhang strives for. This limited harvest embraces his award-winning ideals for a stunning brew.

Master Zhang is proud to be sharing true Tieguanyin varietal oolong, fed by mountain spring water and grown without pesticides or fertilizers under the high mountain mist. Most Tieguanyin sold is actually Benshan or other similar varietals which lack the long drawn out aftertaste of Tieguanyin. The biodiversity of Daping lends complexity and depth of flavor to this tea, with a compelling combination of fresh aroma, clean flavor and compelling aftertaste.

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.

Daping is the birthplace of the Maoxie (Hairy Crab) varietal, and the village is proud of its heritage. Master Zhang is one of Daping's foremost craftsman of traditional Anxi oolong processing, and as it is his favorite way to finish his oolong teas, it only makes sense to show off the subtle and more savory finish of traditional roasting on this varietal. The darker traditional finish brings out unique sweetness that are hidden in a greener finish.

Master Zhang's work has won awards at conferences in Fujian and Guangdong for his incredible craft in traditional Tieguanyin finishing. This spring, we are excited to once again offer his reserve harvest with a traditional finish, undoubtedly Master Zhang's favorite tea to make and share with friends. Master Zhang's award-winning technique brings out the deep fruit and dark florals that don't have a chance to shine in greener, more modern finishes. Instead of simply designating his higher elevation teas as "Reserve," Master Zhang holds back this title to only the very few pickings that meet his criteria of intense aroma, lingering pervasive aftertaste, rich deep florals, light cooling sensations, and creamy texture. The conditions while picking and processing only rarely come together to facilitate a tea that hits every thing for which Master Zhang strives.

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.