SUNNY DAY | PHOENIX OOLONG, HONEY ORCHID

This tea strongly reminds us of strolling through a Chinese fruit market; it is a rollercoaster ride including layers of juicy nectarines, lychee and kiwi.

Meet our Friends!  This is the first tea sourced in partnership with our friends Ivy and James (from Qi Fine Teas) who live and work in Guizhou and have built relationships over decades with growers in Phoenix Mountain.  We are thrilled to share these leaves!

Cultivar: Mì Lán Xiāng (蜜兰香), or Honey Orchid Aroma, is one of Phoenix Mountains's most iconic cultivars.  It is also Ivy's favourite.

The reason for 'Sunny Day' picks:  James' background as an organic chemist was helpful to explain the importance of sunny day harvests in Phoenix Oolongs:  

"The spring picking is unfortunately right in the middle of the rainy season on Phoenix Mountain. Rain is needed for the tea to grow, but cool sunny days are ideal for picking and processing. It all starts at the cellular level in the tea leaves. On rainy days, for reasons no scientific studies have yet uncovered, Phoenix Mountain tea trees produce too much chlorogenic acid whereas on sunny days they produce almost none. The bitter, slightly metallic flavor of that molecule is great for coffee (up to 10% of the dry bean weight) but not for a Honey Orchid tea."

Harvest:  03.2023

Origin:  Wudong (Phoenix Mountain), Chaozhou, Guangdong.

GPS:  22.9°N 116.6°E

Tree age:  >50 years

Lot Size:  the 'sunny day' harvest in 2023 was 30.5kg

Grower:  Huang Family

This tea was selected and refined (sorted and finish fired) by Ivy Hu.  Some of the glorious aromas in this tea resulted from her work.

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Brewing Suggestions:  

Tea:  6g

Water:  100g @ 90ºC

Steeping time:  8" (1st 10 steeps); add 5" in subsequent steeps.