One of our favourite new additions of 2017, our Plum Beauty Mengsong makes a return for 2018. This year’s material is comprised of ~40 years or fangyang (放养/“left to grow”) tree material that sees no human intervention outside of picking. The result of this style of farming is a denser flavour than normally encountered from younger tree material. This tea has a pleasant balance of floral fragrance, kuwei (enjoyable bitterness) and sweetness in the throat and in terms of huigan. While there are some light plum notes in this tea’s early stage, our experience with this same tea of different ages indicates that a stronger stone fruit/plum flavour can be expected to develop as it ages over the years. We recommend this tea for those seeking balance in a tea, with a deep fragrance, but also a grounded flavour. $0.17/gram
