A modern style Tie Guan Yin made from the Huang Dan cultivar.
This cultivar is an early budding plant so the leaves come from the beginning of April. It has a more sweet aroma than the widely used Guan Yin cultivar but it tends to have a bit of a shorter finish.
When we tasted this tea in Xiping village we felt it was the perfect example of a supreme quality Huang Dan and we wanted to extend the depth and finish by giving it a light roasting.
We bought up a small quantity and drove a few hours to a roaster that we know in Anxi. We spoke at length about how we should roast this tea and agreed that we should give it a light roast to maintain the character of the top notes. So this tea has been roasted for nine hours of glowing Longan wood charcoal for a fruitier flavour.
Watch us sourcing this tea (minute 26:00).
