Location: Fuzhou, Minhou County, Xiangqian Township.
Producer: Lvming Factory
Harvest: April 2025 (Tea); August 2025 (Jasmine)
Tasting Notes: Jasmine, Butter, Alfalfa, Hay.
This is a tea that lovers of jasmine, green tea, and white tea can all appreciate. It has the strong, sweet, stable perfumed floral aroma that one would expect to find in a well made jasmine tea. It also has the cooling crispness of a green tea, that can be felt from the first to last infusion. It finally has the same delicate and creamy notes down-heavy cultivars in Fuding provide to early pick white teas.
Fuzhou is one of the original homes of jasmine tea. The Lvming factory does it a little different than how it is now done in Sichuan and other areas. As has been true for generations, the final product is visibly yellowed from the four rounds of piling & baking it has undergone over several weeks. In each round, workers stack, flip, and mix dry finished green tea with fresh jasmine flowers. The green tea had been picked and produced in Fuzhou using Fuding Dahao cultivar bushes, then shipped up to Fuding, especially Dianxia Township, in the Summer to be steamed, rolled, and sunned dry agauin by rural women who have been undertaking this work for decades. The jasmine fresh flowers are picked in Fuzhou in afternoons of July & August, when the temperatures are hottest and the greatest quantity of freshly opened flowers is available. For each round of piling/baking, fresh picked jasmine flowers most be procured. Unlike in other production regions, flowers from the last round of piling do not usually make into the bag with the final product here.
This tea can be enjoyed grandpa-style, cold brewed, or even in a Gaiwan as some do in Fuzhou and Beijing.
Aromatically pairs with any bullshit I have to deal with and a nice way to reward myself for doing do. Lots of great mileage drinking it Grandpa Style. Nutty (like me) and rich ?not like me).
Unfortunately not quite to my taste, I feel like it's just a bit light. However! If you brew Riptide really aggressively, like 9g/100 100°C 30+sec, then you'll get straight hibiscus tea.
Ugh, where do I even start ! Thick, juicy, stemmy, like a wonderful thick red wine or delicious pipe tobacco. Aged jujube, gozi berry, date, cedar, and just old forest energy from this massive brick that will last you a while. Brick is tightly pressed but, once you've found the right place with your tea knife, it's super easy to grab large chunks.
I was drinking this tea with a friend of mine and here's their verdict (paraphrased lol)
This tea has a clarifying quality to it. It's refreshing in a way that is very soothing to the senses: calming sleep, soothing aches, and relaxing eyes. The reserved sweetness feels natural and light, transporting you to the place where it is grown.
My personal opinion: This tea is awesome. Very refreshing, smooth to the taste, and lasts for many cups! Pairs nicely with just sitting around. You can relax with a tea like this.
