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“This afternoon, I received my order of Volition’s “Trapped In Amber” series and I just couldn’t wait to give each of the teas a try, so I steeped them up in cupping sets for a bit of a vertical...” Read full tasting note
Zhenghe Red tea scented with organically grown gardenia flower petals
Farm owner: Xie Rong Fu, Xie Rong Wei Brothers
Co-created with Xie Brother’s friends
Cultivar: Zhenghe Da Bai
Processed on: March 20, 2023, scented on June 15, 2023
Region: Songxi, Fujian, China
Weight: 50g
Farmer’s Note
In 2002, we took over Longyuan Tea Garden and Factory from the local government. Step by step, we turned this space into a three-dimensional organic tea garden, focusing on biodiversity of trees, tea bushes and grass. We methodically planted and cared for over 30 different species of trees and 5 kinds of grass. Because of this unique environment, the surrounding areas regard our tea garden as a tourist attraction to get close to the nature and learn about tea agriculture. We are happy to accept that new reality, as income from tea-tourism allows us to invest more in the maintenance and enhancement of our organic tea garden.
This red tea uses Zhenghe Dabai variety, picked according to the one-bud-and-two-leaf standard. We intentionally prolonged the withering step to reduce its astringency. After the raw tea is made, it passes through a set of refining machines, cutting the tea leaves, and then screening them for length and weight, to achieve a uniformed appearance. The result is a consistent and flavorful red tea. In early June 2023, our friends from Hubei Province came to visit us. They brought a batch of freeze-dried gardenia flower petals that they grew in their garden. Out of curiosity, we threw some petals into a gaiwan that held Zhenghe Red. The brew blew us away; it’s exquisite and beautiful, We had to send some samples to Annie hoping more can experience that moment of surprise. We rarely scent our teas, but this is a worthy exception.
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This afternoon, I received my order of Volition’s “Trapped In Amber” series and I just couldn’t wait to give each of the teas a try, so I steeped them up in cupping sets for a bit of a vertical tasting. All three of these teas start with the same Zhenghe Red Chinese black tea but have been altered in different ways as part of the processing. Though I’m excited to get to know them all a little more intimately through some gongfu sessions in the next little while, here are my snap thoughts based on this tasting!!
I thought that this might be my favourite of the three teas as I’m quite a big fan of gardenia scented teas. It’s definitely very good, with the brightest and more lively red fruit top notes of the set. Very red currant-like. The gardenia was very aromatic and fresh, but I felt maybe just a little too subtle for my own tastes. However, I definitely think that a different brewing method (like gongfu) is going to dramatically change the balance of flavours, so I’m excited to see if making that change pulls forward more of that delicate and delicious floral note.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DA_x5LvSLvR/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvRHzDDMlvk
