Tea: Mother Bush Gardenia Fragrance
Type: Huangzhixiang Mushu Dancong Oolong (黄枝香母树单丛乌龙)
Style: Classic
Roast: Light-Medium
Harvest: Spring 2025
Region: Wudong Village, Phoenix Mountains, Chaozhou
Producers: Wen Zitong
Tasting Notes: Berry Compote, Pine Sap, Gardenia, Cedar, Rock Salt
The very first time we met Wen Zitong, on a rainy spring back in 2022, we trekked through the slippery stones and muddy paths of Wudong Mountain to visit his biggest and oldest tea tree. His king of the mountain, Da Huang, or Big Yellow, his Mother Bush of Huangzhi Xiang (gardenia fragrance dancong). Covered in moss and taking up all the space it needs, its branches twist and weave together to create its own canopy. After seeing so many Lao Cong, and old tea bushes, which are impressive, over two meters tall, but relatively spindly, we were unprepared for the immensity of Da Huang.
We have been asking to buy some of this tea trees leaves for the past few years, but there has always been one old customer who buys the entire lot. This year, we were fortunate enough to have Wen Zitong negotiate a little bit for us (just 500 grams). Thus, this year we are finally able to offer leaves from our heart’s desire, the Mother Bush of Gardenia Fragrance.
When the small and delicate leaves are placed in a warmed gaiwan, we are met with a very jammy fragrance, like adding sugar to stewed berries while making compote, there is also the sweetest hint of buttered toast we get from the most recent roast. These berry notes intensify when hit with hot water, though also giving an edge of berry skin and something more woodsy on the wet leaves.
Even on the rinse (yes, we drink the rinse on these mother bush offerings), the mouthfeel is silky smooth and pleasantly thick. We begin to get more warming notes from the tea brew itself, pine sap and cedar wood, with a mineral undercurrent so deep it’s hard to the bottom of the slightly saline sweetness. The brew itself is a pristine pale gold revealing the precise processing and delicate roasting that created this tea.
This tea is an affirmation. An absolution for all the bad tea loosed into the world that we have encountered, drunk, and discarded in our endless search. When we drink this tea, we remember why we do everything we do, why we keep searching, seeking, and sifting through the world of tea. Simply because a tea like this exists, all our efforts are justified.
As the session progresses, we have to refill the kettle, the tea becomes sweeter and sweeter, at last reviewing its namesake, the subtle fragrance of gardenia.
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The mother bush teas from Wen Zitong are teas not commonly available. Only thought strong connections and deep relationships with the growers as well as makers can we source these teas. We are honored that Wen Zitong agreed to reserve a pound of this tea for us from the very limited amount of leaves picked this spring (each year there are only a few kilograms of final tea from this tree). This is Danzhu, Single Tree, Mother Bush, true Dan Cong, aka Single Bush. Teas like this are a rare treat and indeed the nuances tend to be subtle and profound for those learned in the leaf.
While these teas usually don't have the rollercoaster of flavors and aromas, their true magic comes in their incredible vitality, the sweetness in the later infusions, and of course the Cha Qi. Wen Zitong knew how much we loved his Ba Xian last year, so this year he saved just 500 grams of this Mother-Bush production for us to try and offer here.
