This Fresh Green Tea Bundle includes select reserve-level fresh-picked green teas and  classic spring harvests - 6 different pickings to try in total for 150g of tea or about 30 brewing sessions..

We believe that green tea should be as fresh as possible. That is why we work Mrs. Li in Dragonwell and the He Family in Laoshan to buy before the harvest, seal tea in their final bags within days of picking and rush ship each small batch as they are finished. Our partners work hard to manage biodiverse beyond-organic farms, hand pick their tea and carefully hand-finish in small batches to lock in the rich sweet complexity that fine green tea is known for.

This bundle includes three 25g bags of Shi Feng Dragonwell tea for 75g total (15 sessions). Li Xiaoping is an award-winning multi-generational farmer dedicated to sharing true Shi Feng Dragonwell. Her high-elevation Shi Feng plot is one of the most coveted micro-climates for tea in China due to the cool misty weather, the rocky quartz-laden soil, the sweet mountain spring water and the ecological protected park designation. Her and her husband Shui Huamin hand pick and hand wok-finish every leaf, producing incredibly small annual batches, picking only before Qingming festival and allowing the plants the rest of the year undisturbed to grow deeper roots.

The He Family saves this time-consuming flat-passing technique for their sweetest most delicate harvests of the year. The flat-pressing technique is inspired by Dragonwell green tea hand-crafting, and with the cool-weather precious autumn harvest, Mr. He brings out floral notes and deep herbaceous complexity. The day-long meticulous finishing process is worth it for the beautiful leaves that dance in the cup, and the sweet aromatics .

Mr. He’s daughter Qingqing, co-owner of Verdant Tea, pioneered this finishing style with her father. The hand pulled and twisted finish on this classic spring harvest shows off the delicate deep-green buds that the family picks with so much care, cultivating with sustainable chemical free farming, and fed by sweet mountain spring water.

The green tea loose leaf classic from Laoshan, hand-picked in the He Family’s organic mist-shaded fields and packed with creamy green bean flavor. The He family's signature green tea is fed by mountain spring water, picked by hand, and cultivated sustainably using traditional chemical-free farming techniques including growing rows of soybean between rows of tea to restore nitrates to the soil. The extreme northern climate means cold winters and short growing seasons, but the He Family perseveres, protecting their tea in greenhouses over the winter. The result is a deeply sweet and delicate green tea unlike any other in the world.

Biluochun is He Changke’s very favorite tea. He loves the way it shows off the minerality of Laoshan. His family's biluochun is made with tender young buds picked at the perfect moment of autumn when cool weather makes for sweet rich tea. After picking, withering, heat-fixing and hand-shaping into twisted biluochun, the He Family takes this tea as it dries and mixes it with their foraged Laoshan osmanthus blossoms, allowing the green tea to absorb the floral aroma. The effect is subtle, but stunning, giving the biluochun deep, rich creamy texture and a sweet honeyed flavor. 

Picked in the October fall weather, this early autumn harvest Reserve Laoshan Green is picked from the first tender growth of the cool weather season. The extreme northern climate means cold winters and short tea growing seasons in Laoshan, but these sweet buds and tender young leaves are picked before the winter cold ends the growing season at the He Family’s ocean-facing plot at the foot of the Laoshan mountains. This special seasonal offering is intensely sweet with a crisp, fresh flavor and juicy, mouthwatering aftertaste.

Exquisitely hand finished loose leaf green tea from the He Family, this flat-pressed style brings out the complex flavor of Laoshan’s terroir and unique organic green tea growing techniques including crop rotation and cut-back cycles. Laoshan tea was originally brought to the area from Dragonwell, so for this cultivar, flat-pressing is a return to its origins. The day-long labor-intensive process to finish this delicate tea makes for beautiful leaves to brew in glass. The flavor is lighter but the aroma and sweetness more pronounced with flat-pressing. The flat-pressing technique really allows the subtle complexity of this season’s harvest to shine through.

Di Shui Xiang is a uses early, downy, and delicate spring buds, normally reserved for the famous Maofeng style, but coaxes these buds into tight curls like Biluochun. The biluochun finishing adds creaminess and depth to the texture, bringing out intense dessert-like notes and the kind of complexity that can only come from one of China's most famous growing regions, Qimen and the misty mountains of Huangshan.

The famous Huangshan Maofeng is all about beautiful, perfect buds that dance in the teapot like silver needle white tea or Dragonwell. The Cheng Family picks their early spring buds on their high elevation mountain plot near Qimen and Huangshan entirely by hand to preserve their perfect shape, and works to quickly finish the buds with minimal heat and withering time, locking in fresh flavor and deep minerality that shows off the textural complexity of one of the finest green teas in the world.

The iconic Houkui style, inspired by Taiping Houkui, these leaves are picked from a more remote, pristine and perfect terroir than their famous namesake. This flat pressed style is all about the beauty of the leaves unfolding and the drama of presenting the tea before brewing. Houkui green tea has always been a famous tribute tea, even in modern business gifting or new year gifting since its value is so stunningly apparent even before the first sip.  The finishing style yields a rich brew that almost leans towards the sweet green flavor of a fine Japanese Gyokuro, but with the restraint and minerality that can only come from hand picking in the rocky mountain soil above Guixi.

The Cheng Family's pristine, high elevation plot near the famous Huangshan yields nuanced, complex, mineral-driven teas. The Cheng family picks the tender buds for this Ding Gu Da Fang green tea at just the right moment of early spring and instead of giving them a Mao Feng style finish, they carefully press the leaves flat in a wok. Ding Gu Da Fang is arguably China's earliest flat pressed style, bringing out more crisp texture and rocky minerality compared to the Mao Feng form. As it brews, the tea comes to life with unique notes of peony and cherry blossom florals, juicy lychee, delicate green chervil, and complex sarsaparilla root.

This tea is meticulously arranged and tied to blossom in hot water like a flower - a true flex from the Cheng Family to show off the stunning beauty of their Maofeng green tea buds. While most flowering teas are scented, this is purely early spring reserve-level Maofeng green buds, brewing up with soft velvety texture and deep complexity.

This spectacular high elevation yellow tea is made entirely from perfect buds, and scented with orchids for a deep, rich, well integrated flavor and aftertaste. Called Ta Xue Lan Fei  Yellow Tea, or snowy orchid Yellow Tea, the tiny buds are allowed to wither with fresh Xuelan varietal orchids and slowly absorb their aroma over several days. The yellow tea process requires a 'smothering' or covering of the buds for more complex oxidation after sha qing. These unique steps lock in a fresh flavor somewhere between white tea and green tea with all the textural silkiness of Silver Needle White and the minerality and crisp aftertaste of Dragonwell Green.

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.

Mao Xie, or Hairy Crab, is a native varietal to Daping. The village is extremely proud to be a birthplace of Maoxie varietal, and Master Zhang is excited to share this tea. Grown without pesticides and nourished with natural canola flowers for fertilizer, this tea is uniquely savory and creamy in a way that Tieguanyin cannot be. By growing Mao Xie alongside Tieguanyin, Qilan, Rou Gui and other varietals, Master Zhang can achieve a more biodiverse tea garden yielding healthier plants and more complex flavor. Master Zhang finishes this Mao Xie with a meticulous fifteen hour turning and fluffing process which brings out the buttery flavors of the varietal with very light, "modern" green finish.

This Jin Guanyin is an unique varietal made by grafting Huang Jin Gui onto Tieguanyin root stock, combining the fruit and floral aromatics of Huang Jin Gui with the creamy and grassy flavor of Tieguanyin for a rich and well balanced oolong. Master Zhang loves working with teas like Jin Guanyin that give him room to affect flavor and aftertaste through not just finishing craft but also the actual craft involved in agriculture and cultivation itself. 

"Ming Hua Xiang" literally describes tea flower aroma – the scent of camellia sinensis in bloom! The tea flowers blossoming around Daping village are an incredible and potent aroma, perfuming the fields in early autumn. Tieguanyin varietal has a unique marigold and honey aroma, and a dark floral quality. Master Zhang’s careful processing brings out a soothing savory sweetness, accented with rich lingering spice and warm florals.

Rou Gui is better known as a roasted oolong from Wuyi, famous in Wuyi for its intense and aromatic cinnamon flavor. Master Zhang's Rou Gui varietal bushes grow among Tieguanyin fields and wildflowers, and benefit from sweet mountain spring water. Master Zhang's careful finish on this unique rolled Anxi Rou Gui brings out not just rich cinnamon spice, but also dessert-like complexity and aftertaste.

Laoshan Green Oolong takes the beautiful mineral-forward green bean profile of Laoshan Green and gives it an astounding depth and complexity through meticulous labor intensive craftsmanship. Mr. He starts with sweet rich fresh leaves, then kneads and shakes the leaves to bring out rich florals and fruity undertones. Heat locks in the green quality of this tea before it can oxidize, yielding a fresh pure and honest expression of the unique flavor of the region. The He Family's special combination of green tea and oolong finishing lock in fresh bright vegetal notes, while accentuating deep tingling minerality and building a luscious fruity floral oolong undertone.

Mao Xie, or Hairy Crab, is the native cultivar to Daping. The village is extremely proud to be a birthplace of Maoxie varietal, and Master Zhang is excited to share this tea. Grown without pesticides and nourished with natural canola flowers for fertilizer, this tea is uniquely savory and creamy in a way that Tieguanyin cannot be. By growing Mao Xie alongside Tieguanyin, Qilan, Rou Gui and other varietals, Master Zhang can achieve a more biodiverse tea garden yielding healthier plants and better flavor quality. 

The Liu Family has been quietly cultivating incredible 'off the beaten path' Tieguanyin for generations on their mountaintop family plot. Their old-growth tea plants benefit from deep roots, rocky soil and daily clouds and mist shading the plants from excess sun. The result is a complex Tieguanyin full of classic creamy notes, along with a unique spiced quality that expresses the Longjuan climate.