86K High Mountain Oolong 2025 Winter

Refined, lush and aromatically complex, this tea hails from Fushou Shan. Although Fushou Shan doesn't get the same name recognition outside of Taiwan, we find it more often produces a tea that we like, as Dayuling can be fantastic but more unpredictable. The best Fushou Shan has a lot of the properties that make Dayuling so good, but with more consistency year over year. This tea we named 86K because that is how they break up these super high elevation gardens in Fushou and Dayuling : the kilometer marker on the Central Cross-Island Highway. Before about 90K is considered Fushou Shan these days, and after is Dayuling. It took me many attempts before I felt like I was ready to write the description for this tea. It is incredibly detailed but also reserved. I had to ask it nicely to come out and play. Even from the first time I drank it when the sample arrived in a state of 'jet-lag', I could tell it was a luxurious tea with a lot going on underneath the surface. Broth is absolutely fantastic.. Not just plush and soft (the word velvet comes to mind), but lots of little tiny details as the tannins dance around the mouth. It reaches back to the throat and leaves behind an elegant lingering sweetness. The aroma is high and pronounced, dense even, but doesn't scream out to be heard. The most clear note I get is pine, and there's a pomelo citrus note and milk candy down below that. But upon deeper observation layers and layers reveal themselves, although they are fleeting and for me evade exact description. The tea is like a princess. Majestic and proud and refined. Lots of nuances that I feel I'm just beginning to pick up on. It is sensitive, and has taken the longest time to open up of all the winter teas we've chosen this year. I'm looking forward to spending the next few months exploring this tea.