Li Shan HEAVILY CHARCOAL ROASTED Alpine Oolong Tea
150g
In Taiwan's high-altitude Lishan tea region, following the spring harvest, tea farmers typically forgo autumn tea production to ensure the yield and quality of the winter harvest. This practice involves pruning the tea plants' height and branches, as harvesting autumn tea can significantly reduce winter tea yields, and autumn teas generally command lower market prices.
However, autumn teas from high-mountain regions possess a distinctive richness and aroma. When meticulously charcoal-roasted using traditional methods with longan wood, the resulting tea exhibits an amber hue, a sweet and refreshing throat feel, and transforms the inherent high-mountain tea character into a profound, lingering fragrance. This roasting process demands the expertise of seasoned tea masters, who carefully control the heat over an extended period to craft the unique profile of Lishan Gongfu Charcoal-Roasted Tea.
Proper aging of such teas requires breathable storage to allow natural, gradual oxidation over time, enhancing their aroma and smoothness. Therefore, we adhere to traditional handcrafted paper packaging for each 150-gram (four taels) package, each marked with a commemorative year code, released in limited quantities for connoisseurs to cherish and enjoy.
Flavor: Cherrywood smoke, fire-roasted yams aroma. Thick, oily mouthfeel. Dried apricots, roasted pecans, and molasses flavor profile. Sweet/tangy, dry smoky, peaty finish.
Harvest: Hand-picked, medium batch. Fall 2021. Li Shan, Taiwan.
Elevation: 2600m
These tea leaves are from a Li Shan Alpine tea farm, fall 2021 harvest. They were they were sufficiently oxidized to be suitable for extensive roasting.
This batch of tea was oven roasted 3 times over 3 months time, letting it rest between roastings. When it was about 80% of the desired roasting level, it was brought it to the local charcoal roasting master in Li Shan, who completed the task, using Longanwood charcoal.
The aroma that exudes from these leaves during their initial steeping is a rich caramelized, nutty character with a hint of smoke. The tea is complex, hearty, and smooth, with a pleasant balance of bitter and sweet notes in the finish. It's similar to a traditionally made Dong Ding Oolong, but the leaves grown at higher elevation have an even more substantial composition.
These tea leaves were allowed to oxidiize significantly more than a standard High Mountain Oolong, as this autumn batch was processed in preparation for competition. 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.
Brewing Directions:
You can use any kind of tea pot, but clay tea pot suits much better.
Warm up the teapot with the boiling water, put 3 grams of tea, and pour a small amount of the boiling water into the tea and pour out, then pour 250 ml of boiling water and cover the tea pot for three minutes before serving.
Boiling temperature – 85-95°C (185-203°F). You can use this amount of tea 3 to 4 times.
The tea leaves come unrolled for full flavor.
Additional information
This is one of the traditional ways of brewing. Depending on individual gustatory preferences you can you can vary brewing time from 35s to 5 minutes.
You can also use the Taiwanese traditional way of brewing - spilling, using Gaiwan, and brewing for 3-5 seconds each time.
Please note that it is natural tea with a high content of active elements, including caffeine and minerals, and some unusual feelings could appear. In that case, we recommend decreasing the quantity of dry leaves and brewing time.