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Ise Gyokuro Chikusen
Cold Energy, Fuller Bodies, Green teas, Japan, Lighter Aromas, Tea$ 37.30伊勢 逸品玉露 竹仙
Compared to Uji or even Kyushu, the region of Mie is much less talked about as one of the first major tea production areas in Japan. Yet it is still as important a source for high end classical Japanese green tea. Many big brands come here to OEM their products, some even claiming them as from some other more popularly known origins*. That is why we buy directly from the producers here. It is quality that matters to us after all. We have screened the best tasting teas for our offers and Tsutsumi sensei's teas most often come up on top. I guess he was not buffing when he said, “the demand is getting crazy…” Tea Hong’s Ise Gyokuro Chikusen is Tsutsumi sensei's top quality green tea from this most sought after production farm in Mie. In Japan, teas from Mie and neighbouring areas are generally referred to as Ise teas. We follow that local practice. The soft, supple, umami and slightly floral characteristics of a good value gyokuro like this is an optimum choice for receiving guests of all levels of tea appreciation skills, or for that special tranquil moment that you can retreat your overloaded mind to.
Net weight: 60g (2.1oz) in Kraft-alu pillow -
Uji Matcha Tokumukashi, ceremonial master grade
Cold Energy, Fuller Bodies, Green teas, Japan, Lighter Aromas, Tea$ 24.90宇治 御濃茶 徳昔
Traditional stone-ground matcha
You do not have to be a Japanese tea master to enjoy this exceptional matcha, nor reserving it only for that serious tea ceremony. Simply get a respectable tea bowl, whip it optimally, and relax with the gently roasted, consoling fresh aroma. Roll its full, layered and yet subtle umami taste in your mouth. Let that few seconds of sipping transcend into a peaceful hour, or at least a window for serenity, even at a clustered desk or a jammed kitchen table. Just the whipping of that pure, luxuriously intense greenness of the tea is mesmerising in itself. The tradition of competing to yield the most tasteful cup of the purest and most intense colour is still valid and as meaningful today as it was 12 centuries ago. This stone-ground production continues this precious heritage. However, the centuries of horticultural evolution coming to the hands of our tea masters in Uji give us a superb quality that is possible only today, and that would be envied by daimyos feudal lords and their chajins tea masters. Produced in Higashiyama by a team led by Shimada sensei, a regular winner of Uji Tea Quality Competition under Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Award, Tea Hong’s Uji Matcha Tokumukashi is a top choice as a koicha (濃茶) for chaji (aka formal chado tea ceremony). For us, it is a natural choice for enjoying a finest taste in green tea.
Net weight: 30g (1.06oz) in double-lidded tin -
FIR Boucha, far-infrared roasted petiole houjicha
Green teas, Japan, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Neutral Energy, Tea$ 16.80遠赤外線焙煎 深煎り棒茶
An old style petiole tea much elevated using modern technology
Much like roasting green coffee beans to give a warm, brown liquor, a houjicha is a green tea that is deep roasted. Unlike in China or Taiwan, where a large variety of oolongs and black teas are there readily to choose from for deep baking or roasting, producers in Japan mostly have only green tea to work with. While it sounds straight forward, to find one which taste is respectable is not easy. The very brittle nature of Japanese green tea leaves will become ash when deep roasted. Often larger, older and underprocessed leaves are used and the final quality reflects that. There is one kind of houjicha, however, that caught our attention: that from purely tea petioles — Boucha. Much like in our Karigane where the relative higher cellulose and carbohydrate contents in the petioles gives a sweeter and a relatively more complex dimension, this far infrared deep roasted version of purely small leaf stalks does have a pleasantly warm and tidily intact taste profile. My first encounter with something similar was a small cup served after a luxurious crab kaiseki meal in a pristinely beautiful traditional formal style restaurant. It was quite an impressive surprise. To me, this easy going tea doesn’t have to be enjoyed only after an expensive meal. It can be easily infused using a hot or cold infusion method and it is quite forgiving of irregularities. It suits a lot of occasions where tea is a complement. And it is a nice one.
Net weight: 40g (1.4oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
GABA Bouquet, a special white tea
Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral-Cool Energy, Organic teas, Taiwan, Tea, White teas$ 20.40天然培育 伽瑪芳香白茶
A very rare white tea
Mr Yu rarely wears shoes and walks in his little tea fields barefooted. He loves the contact with the soil that he keeps so naturally fertile, and uncontaminated. So much so that we smell the sweetness walking into his garden. He brews his own fertilisers and devises various ways of natural pest control. He is so into natural farming that a national university has setup quite a few joint projects with him. He totally worships Nature but his hobby is mechanical engineering. He proudly showed me the GABA deoxygenation tank that he modified and explained to me how it is better in processing the tea. Tea Hong’s GABA Bouquet is an invention by him. I have yet to find another tea with this kind of fruity bouquet, smoothness and even a good umami tone. He tried quite a few times before arriving at this distinctive taste quality. This is a rare batch and we can only restock when everything will work the same in the next production. It’s all dependent on Nature after all.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Wide kraft-alu pack -
North Peak, deep baked Taiwan oolong
Fuller Bodies, Lighter Aromas, Neutral-Warm Energy, Oolongs, Organic teas, Taiwan, Tea$ 25.10天然培育 深焙北山武夷烏龍
A Wuyi reborn in Taiwan
In Taiwan, besides the famous tea mountain of Dong Ding (Cold Peak), there are actually many other areas where the horticultural conditions are good for finer tea production. Such as the Bei Shan (i.e. North Peak) area that is has an 1,100m altitude and near the centre of the whole Taiwan Island, in Nantou County. The Tsai family does not have the resources to get an international organic certification, but they run the farm according to organic practices with the help of the local university, much like Master Yu who makes our GABA teas. Tea Hong’s North Peak is an oolong optimally deep baked for aroma and caramelisation. It is produced by the Tsai family using a Wuyi Shuixian cultivar that is localised and quite different from any Wuyi oolongs from Wuyi. You will find it softer and slightly sweeter. Interestingly, that is very much a Taiwan style, gentler in every way.
Net weight: 70 g (2.5 oz) in Kraft-alu pillow pack -
Moon Drops Himalayas, deep oxidation Nepali white tea
Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Nepal, the Himalayas, Neutral-Cool Energy, Organic teas, Tea, White teas$ 29.30चाँदीको चाँदी हिमालय
When a Taiwanese marries a Japanese in Nepal
The tougher terroir of the Himalayas usually gives a more rugged characteristic to the yield. Yet the ingenious farmer of Tea Hong's Moon Drop Himalayas has employed the creamy Jinxuan ( 金萱 ) cultivar from Taiwan and the umami Yabukita ( やぶきた ) from Japan to produce this tea. Their softer nature most definitely tones down the harsher growing environment to give this tea an extraordinarily round body, accompanied with a sweetness and bouquet that one can hardly find in any other South Asian productions. An extra step of rolling is added to the end of the white tea withering process to develop more depth in the taste profile. This is indeed an unusual gem of white tea. However, maintaining the East Asian tea plants in the Himalayas is not an easy job and getting a good yield from them is even more demanding. We have been following this tea for almost a decade before deciding to carry it. A fine batch as this one on offer is rare.
Net weight: 50 g (1.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
Ying Hong Nine, traditional black tea
Black teas, Floral Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Neutral Energy, Other tea regions, Tea$ 20.80廣東英德春茶 英紅九號
Prodigy Black Tea of Yingde
Although the ancestry of cultivar Ying Hong #9 was taken from the rugged mountains of Yunnan 60 years ago, the tea tree has acquired a very different characteristics in the much milder climate on the rolling hills of middle Guangdong. However, not all farms are able to produce a warm sweet black tea with a rich and smooth body as Tea Hong’s Ying Hong Nine. This patiently withered and oxidised selection is processed in the Guangdong style and optimally baked for its creamy characteristics and fruity accents. A prize-winning quality at great value.
Net weight: 50 g (1.8 oz) in Kraft-alu pack -
Longjing Traditional Supreme, hand-roasted green tea
Denser Aromas, Fuller Bodies, Green teas, Neutral-Cool Energy, Tea, ZhejiangPrice range: $ 37.10 through $ 47.20經典極品 頭採杭州龍井
Mastery in wok-roasted green tea
The special taste profile of a classic Longjing demands not only a fine harvest from a genuine pedigree, but also the mastery of hand-roasting the leaves. To attain such a skill takes the willingness to endure years of hard practice*. On top of that, a fine Longjing is perhaps the most sought after tea in its native market that is China, and there are people there that are willing to pay thousands for half a kilo of this tea. As a result, good roasting masters are in high demand. A good master producing with top quality harvests is even more rare. To secure a genuinely high quality is therefore a very challenging task. More so at the accessible price we are offering at. Tea Hong's Longjing Traditional Supreme is a proud representation of the best quality of this precious craft, a taste that would have won nobles and mandarins in their tea competition, and when the Qing Emperor Qianlong was still young and flamboyant, and crazy about this tea. Two pack sizes available: 40 g (1.4 oz) and 70 g (2.5 oz) Please check an option below: -
Silver Needle Supreme, traditional white tea
Cool Energy, Lighter Aromas, Milder Tastes, Minnan/ Mindong, Fujian, Tea, White teas$ 30.90福鼎 明前 高山白毫銀針
Genuine Baihao Yinzhen:
The first ever modern white tea, Silver Needle that came about in late 18th century withstands time as still the highest quality in the category. Produced in the origin of Fuding with the original pedigree cultivar Fuding Daibai, Tea Hong’s Silver Needle Supreme is a high altitude first flush that distinguishes itself with a subtle yet the most joyful aroma and flavors amongst its peers. The finest and purest of this variety.
Net weight: 40 g (1.4 oz) in Kraft-alu pack
