Our Osmanthus is grown in Hunan Province. Typically, we purchase our flowers from the summer harvest when the aroma and taste of the buds have intensified. Delicate, aromatic yellow flowers, naturally sweet.Osmanthus flowers are known to aid in digestion and are high in antioxidants. Blends well with Oolongs and green teas.
Price: $24.20
Market Place Specials
Fall is a great time for tea!
Small tea farms in China produce a vast selection of teas that never leave the country. Farmers use local methods of cultivation and skills in processing leaves to develop new leaf appearances, aromas and tastes. The fortunate tea buyer will, on occasion, be in the right place at harvest time, taste a farmer's special lot and bring something unique to our market.
The teas we are offering here all fit that description and should be enjoyed. These are one of a kind!
Be sure to visit our "New Arrivals" page to see more teas.
A well-made, ripe or dark-leaf, high-mountain Pu-erh, it was grown in the mountains near the Vietnam border along Yunnan Province. Using a traditional process - fermentation is done by a method of essentially composting the tea leaf in a loose pile. As the leaf heats up, it oxidizes and ferments developing its unique aroma.The leaf appearance is a rich, deep-brown color.A mix of broad thick leaves and stems, it has been processed to EU Standards for organic. Cups to a bright brown-red color, provides a clean, earthy taste. Tea was produced in 2009.
The small leaves of this 2007 Jinggu Grade One Mao Cha are deep green and tightly curled with plenty of light-colored buds. The dry leaves have an aroma that hints of licorice. Made in Jin Gu county, in the Simao prefecture of Yunnan Province, this tea is tippy, with a fresh, crisp taste with malty notes and hints of astringency that will be kept in check with a short steep. This is a delightful tasting, loose-leaf, green Pu-erh that should age well and hold its native aroma. Produced in 2007.
Each year, we choose a lot of Tieguanyin from our source tea maker that we believe is the finest of that season's selections. We hope it will intoxicate the drinker with its sublime aroma and nuanced floral taste. A rich tea, it caresses the tongue with nectar. Fully opened, the rolled leaves are broad and long with serrated edges. The first steep is about aroma. The second steep, the leaves begin to give up their treasured tastes and will for a number of steeps. The taste lingers long after drinking. This is a high-grade oolong, much prized in China and we are proud to offer it to you.
A wonderful, organic yellow tea grown in the Huang Shan Mountains of Anhui Province. High, jagged mountains flush with abundant streams and cooling mists combine to create a perfect environ for tea. These rich green leaves offer a sweet and clean cup with subtle, flowery notes. Delicious, naturally sweet offers a lingering aftertaste. A real treat!
Known worldwide for its appearance, this tea captures the essence of China's spring teas unlike any other. Our competition grade Bi Luo Chun or Green Snail Spring is handmade of the earliest pickings when the leaves are tender and most interesting in taste. We look for a first flush lot with a rich mix of primarily white buds and jade-color leaf that offers subtly sweet liquor and a taste that captures a moment of spring. Once steeped, the leaves show their delicate, snail-like shape. This tea will cup to wonderful peach-like fragrance and unique aroma.
This year's Tian Mu Qing Ding is one of our most aromatic and flavorful teas. A famous tea grown in Zhejiang Province, this prized, high-mountain varietal is harvested only for a very brief period each spring in the Tian Mu Mountains. This brief harvest window is reflected in small and very tender leaves that make this famous tea. Rich green in color, these leaves yield a sweet, natural taste that cups to a light-yellow liquor. Our lot is organic and will provide the most discerning tea drinker a very satisfying, savory cup.
Perhaps our sweetest tasting oolong! This lot was grown at the highest elevations of the Phoenix Mountains in the Feng Huang area of Guangdong Province. Once harvested, the leaves are withered then artistically shaped by a tea master we know well. The leaves are wood charcoal fired in wicker baskets to create a distinctive, red-green leaf with a fruity and roasted aroma. This small, terraced tea farm harvests from oolong trees that are, in cases, hundreds of years old. Its sweetness is enhanced by a light scent of Yu Lan flower; cup taste is nuanced with a long and pleasant aftertaste.
Thick, green-to-black leaves are the result of aging and multiple firings. Its taste deepens with each "working" by the tea maker. From the WuYi Mountains in Fujian Province, this oolong is rich in aroma and multi-layered and complex in flavor. Early smokiness will quickly pass to sweet, floral notes that will linger and satisfy and bring a slight swelling to the tongue. This tea is often touted as a weight loss beverage. In China, it is known as a Min-Bei oolong, as it is made north of the Min River. A strong leaf, it will yield multiple infusions.
Traditional style, 16-ounce, unglazed Yixing red-clay pot, made with red Zisha clay and lightly burnished on the outside. Yixing or "purple sandware" pots are famous for their ability to absorb the flavor of tea. Typically, only one type of tea is used in a particular pot for this reason. Commonly used for "Gong fu" style tea service with oolong or Pu-erh teas. Rinse with hot water and allow it to air-dry. This pot should be boiled in water for at least ten minutes and allowed to dry before its first use.
Traditional style, 6-ounce, unglazed Yixing red-clay pot. Note the traditional style of the teapot, made with red Zisha clay. Yixing or "purple sandware" pots are famous for their ability to absorb the flavor of tea. Typically, only one type of tea is used in a particular pot for this reason. Commonly used for "Gong fu" style tea service with oolong or Pu-erh teas. Rinse with hot water and allow it to air-dry. This pot should be boiled in water for at least ten minutes and allowed to dry before its first use.
Our Ba Da ripe brick is unusual, offering hints of sugarcane and pine in its early infusions. Tea is grown on Ba Da Mountain, not far from the Menghai township in Xishuangbanna. It cups to a deep burgundy color and is highly aromatic. Leaf size is uniform and, as a result, the taste is even. The mouth feel is full and stimulating, yet always smooth with a very pleasant afteraste. It is a medium fermentation and will continue to age well. A 250-gram brick, produced in 2007.
Tea from the Lin Cang area is known to offer a very pleasurable taste when the fermentation is handled well. This Grade 3, ripe, loose leaf Pu-erh was made at a small factory in Yuan Xian, county of Lin Cang. The leaf is a light-to-medium fermentation so there is room for this tea to change and develop. Taste is full, offering an earthy, peat-like aroma, with a thick and sweet aftertaste. Tea was produced and pressed in 2007.
A tea not often found outside China, Fragrant Sprout is a yellow that is pan-fired preserving its loose rolled shape and enhancing its very natural sweetness. Grown in Huang Shan Mountains, Anhui Province, this is a classic tea-growing region marked by rich pine forests and cold mountain streams. Picked in early April, once withered it is gently rolled into a loose round shapes often with a stem left intact. The stem adds depth, counters the sweet notes with a hint of astringency. The leaves unfurl releasing a round fruity-sweet cup. Being a yellow tea, it will steep to a very clear, light-yellow color.
This smoked tea is a specialty of Fujian Province. A quite famous tea that is made by withering leaves over open fires of fresh pine logs. Made in the WuYi Mountains, these long, black strips of leaf have a taste that is decidedly smoky, robust and a little biscuit and cups to a rich, rust-red liquor. We chose a lot that is not overly smoky but is hearty and rich and should satisfy. Goes well with breakfast, salty and spicy dishes, cheese and will warm one in colder weather.
Our Chen Nian ripe brick is made from unusually large leaves that have beel allowed to grow to maturity. The leaves then went through a fermentation period lasting roughly 50 days. The process is timed to bring out aromatic and sweet notes while rounding out the taste. Once ready, the leaves were pressed into 250-gram bricks. Produced in 2002, this tea now offers a smooth and round taste.
