Royal Lishan High Mountain 2025 Winter

From a 2200 meter garden on Lishan, this is a tea chock full of intricate little details. The first thing I notice about the aroma is that it’s crystal clear. The tea maker is an artist, and through deft skill he molded this tea to be classy and elegant. It’s a very classical take on high mountain oolong. You’ll sometimes hear people describe high mountain oolong as a mountain sprite, beautiful and proud and in a way cold. You can view it from afar, but it doesn’t let you come close. If the Super Diva sings like a jazz diva performing an intimate tune, this tea is more like hearing a faint melody drifting in from across a valley. It doesn’t know you’re there, and if you came close it might just stop singing and run away. The mouthfeel is full of subtle shifts. It is lightfooted and springy, puffing up like a cloud in the mouth. The softness is unparalleled in our lineup. It reaches down to the throat with a gentle, relaxing caress and spreads to the shoulders. Then when you think it’s done, the presence comes back up and just barely touches you with a playful hint of tannin in the very back of the upper palate. The aroma plumes into the nasal cavity and fills the head with an ethereal fragrance. At once a quiet and a lively tea. There’s a lot going on underneath what seems at first glance to be a perfect stillness. A tea for meditators. Note : I wouldn't say it's hard to brew, but just don't try to make it into something it's not. If you give it time and space to open up in its own way, the tea will reward you with an open, airy performance.