our most favourite Black teas Return
|
Tongmuguan One and Keemun Traditional at their best
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Wait is Over
Last year, both of our most popular black teas, Tongmuguan One and Keemun Traditional, were sold out a lot sooner than we expected. Since both of these have to be from their first flush harvests, we had to wait.
|
|
Now the wait is over. I am proud to say that we have the best ever batch of Keemun Traditional Supreme. And the Tongmuguan One is as intricately delicious as the very first batch that convinced us to start offering the legendary black tea in 2018.
|
|
|
|
|
Tongmuguan
Before that I had thought that the very name of Tongmuguan was simply a hyped up legend, a fable to sell more tea. The intricate quality of the tea itself convinced me otherwise. The thick, short leaves themselves come from a different cultivar than the “Xiao Chi Gan” Xiao Zhong for Lapsang Souchong or the “Jin Jun Mei” that makes Gold Stallion. The thickness with such short length is a challenge for whole leaf processing. Yet the optimum oxidation it has is a textbook example for the definition of premium black tea. It delivers also the complexity parallels to that of a fine oolong. The depth and rich mineral accents both tell of a slow growth on higher altitude.
|
|
Then I began to talk to the producer to realise that it is a special strain of Mei Zhan that the locals call “Guazi”(as in pumpkin seeds). It is a notoriously small yield plant. He has them in two patches of his garden in Tongmuguan at about 1000m, where mist and fog are more often seen than the sun. To achieve that quality, he picks the tea only once a year. “The yield from these trees is not big anyway. We rather rely more on other better yield tea to sustain the farm.” he said. “We make this more for proving that we can make the best tea. To ourselves and to you.”
|
|
|
|
Our Keemun is most enjoyable as is when infused with ample strength, however, we sometimes play with it to have it made really strong to add milk and cream in it. That's delicious too.
|
|
Keemun is another story.
The Zhang family farm, where we have been getting what we had thought to be the best Keemun from, had not been showing us this level of quality. Honestly in my 20+ years of professional tea career, I had not yet seen better one than that we have been selling. Until they sent the sample of this particular batch.
|
It turned out that they have been reserving this designated quality only for a few prestigious shops in China and mostly, for a number of people with very special backgrounds. The quantity was barely enough to satisfy the demand, said Mr Zhang’s son-in-law, Xiao An, who has been our key contact since early 2010.
|
|
This year, that special demand suddenly decreases dramatically, he said. I have not blamed him, and am happy that now I feel privileged to have access to such wonderful Keemun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some other “xincha” — new tea harvests
Let me know what you think about them after trying them.
|
Green tea sale
|
The green tea sale with an extra $10 off and free teapot philatelic stamps for every purchase of $101 or over will end on May 31. Tips: As long as there are green teas in your basket, you can include any other items to makeup that $101 total to qualify for the extra discount.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
True Quality. True Taste.
|
|
|
|
|
|
  
|
|
Copyrights © 2024 TeaHong.com. All rights reserved
|
|
|
|
|
