Due to the wildly popularized consumer demands in China, production of black tea has grown by leaps and bounds. Today's Chinese consumers demand a different black tea than the western tea lovers. Chinese are more attracted to beautifully shaped leaf forms while Western black tea drinkers more often require flavorful liquor and the shape or quality of the leaf is not as important. On both accounts, you must admit that some of the new China black teas are beautiful and the quality and prices continue rising accordingly.

The modern Chinese black tea farms, especially those from Fujian and Guang Dong, produce ample amounts of golden tippy leaves which yield a nice cupping liquor with good fragrance and flavor. However, they do not do as well when prepared in the traditional "English Tea" style where the tea is infused in boiling water for longer infusion time to produce a stronger cup to be served with pastry or milk and sugar. When infused in this fashion, I find modern Chinese black tea lacks the bright red color and deep richness due to lighter oxidation. A lengthy and deep infusion almost always produces an undesired raw green astringency that I find bothersome. So I was inspired to add an additional dimension to this modern Chinese black tea.

This particular one is an exceptional example from the Fujian province of China, also known as Min. We decided to infuse the tea with jasmine flowers gently and exquisitely, scenting the tea with fresh flowers seven different times. The result is a black tea with a huge amount of golden tips, beautiful to look at in its pure leaf form and due to the infusion of jasmine, the elegant floral notes displaced that bothersome astringency and in its place imparted an extraordinary combination of floral and fruit notes, enriching the viscosity and texture of the mouth-feel. We are very proud of this new adaptation and we are sure you will as well.

Preparation suggestions:

During cupping, we have discovered that a mid-temperature infusion of 2-3 minutes using 3-5 grams produces a wonderful deep red liquor. We suggest trying this with a fine porcelain cup or gaiwan. Drain into another cup to enjoy. Multiple infusions are encouraged.

During cupping, we have discovered that a mid-temperature infusion of 2-3 minutes using 3-5 grams produces a wonderful deep red liquor. We suggest trying this with a fine porcelain cup or gaiwan. Drain into another cup to enjoy. Multiple infusions are encouraged.