All buds with a thick earthy texture. The cup is brown sugar sweet, but with the spiciness of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom that brings even more nuance as it cools. An excellent value.

This tea requires a small car and fast driver to bring fresh buds from wild tea plants from disparate spots on the mountain and to the factory in ready time. This tea was made from the Mei Zhan cultivar by Mr. Wang Xiang Ming on August 10th 2020. Mr. Wang’s ancestral hall has a plaque written with words “Mei Zhan Bai Hua Kui” (梅占百花魁 = Queen of flowers). Our source for this tea said he learned the story from an 83-year old man (passed down to him by word of mouth) that long ago a stranger passed by their house and he asked for some water. They invited him in and treated him well. To thank the host the stranger gave them two precious tea plants without a name. When the host asked for a name, the stranger pointed to their plaque and called it “Mei Zhan.”

Ingredients: black tea

Steeping Instructions

3 grams | 8 oz water | 212°F | Steep 5 min.

Traditional Steeping

8 grams | 6 oz water | 212°F | Rinse 5 sec. | Steep 30 sec.

Number of Cups

2 oz makes 19 cups, 4 oz makes 38 cups