Tasting Aged Dancong: Ye Lai Xiang
Tasting Aged Dancong: Ye Lai Xiang
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Tasting Kits
Oolong Tea
Huang Ruiguang – Wudongshan
This bundle includes four 25g bags of Dancong tea for 100g total (20 sessions).
This bundle includes four 25g bags of dancong tea for 100g total (20 sessions). This tasting kit is a chance to see how years of aging bring depth and complexity to some of the highest-end reserve Dancong in the Huang Family's collection. Get a deep dive look at the famous Ye Lai Xiang varietal - all picked from the same coveted high elevation slope of Wudongshan and hand-finished. Each year shows off the way this tea changes over time.
"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. These Ye Lai Xiang teas were picked from the Huang Family'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. The Huang Family's work in Dancong tasting and agriculture has won them 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. 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.
Taste + Compare across the years:
Tasting Profile
- floral - rich night jasmine
- fruit - muscat grape, honeyed apple
- spice - aloeswood
- savory - brown sugar
- texture - stunning, deep, juicy, perfumed
Tasting Profile
- floral - rose, saffron
- savory - pistachio
- fruit - Bosc pear, lychee
- spice - aloeswood incense
- texture - mouthwatering
Tasting Profile
- spice - camphor, licorice
- floral - jasmine, osmanthus
- fruit - mikan citrus
- savory - molasses
- texture - honeyed, deeply cooling
Tasting Profile
- fruit - tangerine, melon
- floral - jasmine
- spice - aloeswood, rosewood
- savory - brown sugar
- texture - resinous, tingling, juicy
"Wudongshan is a special place.
The rocky soil, the mountain mist - even the angle of the sunlight all comes together as a gift:
the finest growing region for single-tree dancong oolongs in the world.
I have spent my life honoring that gift. I pioneered commune tea farming in the 70’s, and in the 80’s
my tea made history with an unprecedented tasting score of 99.8 at the Changsha National Tea Conference,
putting Wudongshan on the map.
I have spent my life teaching three generations of tea farmers in Wudongshan the meticulous craft of oolong finishing
so that every harvest honors the gift of this place. I invite you to taste the work I started and that my sons now continue -
the rich minerality, the dance between intensity of texture, and voluptuousness of aroma that have defines a whole genre."
- Huang Ruiguang // 黄瑞光
Our Home: Wudongshan
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cool weather, wind and frigid mountain nights keep insects at bay naturally
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single tree plantings establish deep root systems for complex tea and healthy ecosystems compared to traditional tea hedges
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our family picks once a year and does not trim, water, spray or fertilize for zero-impact farming
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our slope of Wudongshan gets the perfect angle of sunlight to prevent too much morning sun yielding a sweeter, slower-growing plant
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our 30 mu plot is the finest land for Dancong in China, awarded to Huang Ruiguang for a lifetime of contributions to the community pioneering new oolong techniques
Our Family
Huang Ruiguang is one of the most important figures in modern Dancong history.
He is cited in most published histories and overviews of the region for his agricultural innovation and for his famously impeccable taste. In 1982, he brought his Dancong to the national tea conference and competition in Changsha and received a 99.8 – the highest score ever awarded to any tea in China at the time.
In 2012, Huang Ruiguang was declared a cultural treasure, and as a result of his work to raise up the region, he was awarded with 30 mu of the most perfectly situated land on Wudongshan.
Huang Ruiguang’s two sons continue his work as the active master craftsmen in the workshop and the fields, both Wei Ming and Zhen Ming already winning national tasting awards for their work.
Our Teas and Craft
If you listen, every tea tells its story.
You can taste the place, the weather, and the craft. When nature gifts us the perfection that we have here in Wudongshan, it is only right that we offer ourselves fully in gratitude for that gift. My sons and I live for tea. We work through the night using traditional oolong techniques, fluffing and working each leaf on bamboo trays by hand, not by machine.
Every batch has slightly different requirements, different motions needed to coax out the moisture from the leaf stems. Perfectly-finished tea is barely touched, but rather flipped and turned without exposing the leaf to pressure and heat. This takes a lifetime to master, but the reward is aromatic complexity that makes our Dancong famous.
We share our passion not just for our family, but for the whole region - to be leaders and pioneers, to be teachers, mentors and neighbors with the hope that all of Wudongshan continues our traditions for generations to come.
Learn even more!
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