Sometimes 2 is better than 1. At least that applies in the case of this Kuzhushan “Shuangzhu” old tree tea. This blend of 2 really old trees is the fruit of their efforts this spring, producing a floral fragrance, sweet soup and excellent chaqi/feeling in the body. The soup texture is dense and layered, making this an all-around feel-good tea. In recent years Danzhu/single trees became the hot trend. Although this seems like a natural step up from “regular” gushu, there is no guarantee that one tree on its own will taste better than a collective picking of old trees in an area. In many cases our experience with Danzhu backed this up, making us skeptical when we sat down with a farmer in Kuzhushan for an afternoon of drinking various individual trees. The difference from one tree to another was often quite distinct, and while not every single one was a hit, there were at least two that stood out. Although Danzhu was the name of the game, we opted to blend our two favourites, chosen for fragrance and the other for texture. $0.75/gram Region: Kuzhushan, Simao Prefecture Picking Period: April 2-7
