It may be a first, and at the very least — it's a significant coincidence that we put three new batches of our heavy roast oolong teas on the shelf within a couple weeks! Well, it nevertheless is reason to celebrate! We are happy to announce the following new arrivals!
Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea Winter 2025
In recent years, we've procured our seasonal batches of Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea and stored them vacuum sealed for at least six months. This allows the extensive roasting effect to mellow and the overall compounds in the tea leaves to settle — producing a still fresh, but integrated composition.
Our level of familiarity and solid collaboration was revealed when we brewed this batch of tea upon pulling it out of the warehouse and packaging it up for sale. When we brewed it the first time, we texted our friend who made this tea and asked if he remembered whether the batch we procured last winter was prepared for competition. His response was simply "most likely". That simple interaction was profoundly representative of our relationship. In a word, it said that we both felt beyond the qualification of a competition ranking. We like what we like, and he knows what we like, and we often choose batches that have achieved awards, but not necessarily. In other words, the competition status is not important. And then there is his track record of awards shown in the photo below...
This farmer manages his own small plots of Tie Guan Yin, also known as "Iron Goddess", tea plants and processes the leaves in his home factory. This batch is 1/2 hand-picked Tie Guan Yin tea leaves and 1/2 machine clipped Jin Xuan Oolong that he processed in the traditional Tie Guan Yin fashion. It is now common practice to make Tie Guan Yin Oolong with Jin Xuan tea leaves. The majority of entries in the Muzha Farmers' Association Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea Competition are made with leaves harvested from Jin Xuan tea plants and processed as Tie Guan Yin. Our source has found that blending these two tea strains offers a well balanced flavor profile with the original Tie Guan Yin character, while maximizing his minimal yield.
Charcoal Roasted High Mountain Oolong Tea Fall 2025
This selection of tea is a result of sitting at the tea table of our mentors Lisa and Tony Lin and being smitten by its character every time. We finally put it on our menu in recent years, because we felt a responsibility to do so! We simply love this tea!
This batch of Charcoal Roasted High Mountain Oolong Tea was oven roasted 4 times over a few months time, letting it rest between roastings. The first three roastings started at 100°C for four hours, then 110°C for three hours. The fourth roasting started at 110°C for three hours, then 120°C for two hours. In sum, long slow roasting sessions at relatively low temperatures, repeatedly over time. When it was about 80% of the desired roasting level, it was brought it to the local charcoal roasting master in Lugu, who completed the task, using Longanwood charcoal.
These tea leaves were allowed to oxidiize significantly more than a standard High Mountain Oolong. The skillful art of roasting tea is in the ability to comprehend the composition of the leaves before the roasting begins, and to perceive the transformation they go through in the long, slow roasting process. This perceptual ability becomes more essential as the leaves reach their optimal composition.
Eco-Farmed Heavy Roast Oolong Tea
This source is the most innovative and progressive tea producer we know. A husband, wife and son team cooperate with neighboring farmers to produce an impressive array of organically cultivated tea in the historical tea growing region of Songbolin in Nantou County. From wild and heirloom tea strains to modern hybrid cultivars of tea, they have researched and developed eclectic processing methods to make some unique styles of tea. This tea type is perhaps their most novel that we've come across in terms of its processing and curing methods. We're showing both our age and history of our collaboration in the photos below. These pics are from spring 2016!
This batch of Eco-Farmed Heavy Roast Oolong Tea is a combination of Tsui Yu, Four Seasons Spring, and Jin Xuan tea leaves that undergo medium-heavy oxidation in their processing upon being harvested. This combination of hybrid teas offers a broader, more balanced range of character, especially when undergoing these unique curing methods.
The proportionately mixed batch of tea leaves are then aged for one year to allow for post-production oxidation. The repeated roasting and resting process takes three years to complete! After a year of aging, they undergo an extensive roasting process. The leaves are roasted at low temperature for over 20 hours per session, for a total of three roasting sessions, with at least 3 months of "setting time" between each roasting.
After the batch of tea leaves has been roasted to the desired result, it is then aged again for one year to mellow and "settle" in its composition. Finally, the leaves are minimally roasted at low temperature to deplete any acquired moisture content before being vacuum sealed in preparation for sale. It offers a mellow, aged character with tangy/sweet and mineral notes, and a hint of smoke in the finish.
OK, that's all the background bio story, now on to the tasting video!
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