Fanbaoshan Organic "Pacific Petal" Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea - Spring 2019

This "Pacific Petal" is the successor of our unusual "Pacific Bud" from the spring of 2018. There is a lot of improvement of this plantation and processing from the last year version, so we decided to give it a totally new name to it 

Again, welcome to Nanou, a place where nobody thought could have any tea grown, not to even mention it is one of the hardest varietal to grow - the Hong Xin Wai Wei Tao varietal. We also decided to put the specific name of the mountain with it. Fanbaoshan is the mountain that nurtured this tea, which has a lake named "Mysterious Lake" (神祕湖) nearby. You have to drive along the river valley to reach the bottom before begin a very steep climb, and the climb took us all the way to elevation at 1100 meters high. The crazy ride to reach the plantation could be seen in this video if you are interested to see how we got there.

This year wen encountered some of the very difficult weather condition during the processing of this tea, and that forced us to stay awake all the way to the second day afternoon to monitor the tea leaf condition and continue our hand waving process. Lots of effort and patience (and of course sleeping) were used to craft the foundation of this tea. Without this kind of perseverance even the best charcoal roasting would not save it.The result is a Tie Guan Yin that has even more details and characters to explore in a warm tea cup. It has everything the varietal wants to become even in bad weather, and this is pretty much impossible to find in today's market.

We again wish anyone who obtains this "Pacific Petal"  will cherish it with care and drink it with love. Taiwan is a island that is surrounded by ocean, and this "Pacific Petal" is our the other of our delicious result to show the rarely seen face of such in the world of tea. 

Harvest: Spring 2019 / 春 貳零壹玖

Varietal: Hong Xin Wai Wei Tao (Tie Guan Yin) / 紅心歪尾桃 

Elevation: 1100 M / 壹仟壹佰 公尺

Region: Nanou area Fanbaoshan / 南澳 飯包山

Fermentation Level: 35% / 分之 參拾伍

Roast Level: 5 / 伍 分

  Brewing......

Charcoal roasted character on the nose is inviting and soothingly nutty sweet. Over these past 4 years our old dog has matured a lot and these teas he is hand making are truly a joy to imbibe and appreciate. So many unique conditions being held under artisan and strick standards in all regards. The effort he went through to produce this tea shines in the profile. Layers and layers of roasted sweet, creamy fruity nuttiness. With the body and scrumptious bite of tieguanyin tang on the sides of the tongue. Such a treat now, and am so excited to brew and share again and again over the years.

 This is 100% the most difficult tea to process this year even though we are just half way through. An old dog basically had no decent sleep for 48 hours because the rain kept going, forcing the whole team to stay up to wave and monitor the withering process over and over again. Moreover, Tie Guan Yin is a tough varietal to process "traditionally" unlike Qing Xin Oolong due to its stronger "wildness." Sometimes the key to process great oolong tea is quite simple - "Are you able to maintain your perseverance under tough condition?" An old dog is super grateful the whole team was able to stay focus to the goal, and the result if fruitful. Our goal was to make "Pacific Petal" an updated version of "Pacific Bud," and we did not fail that promise for you.