Tea: Witches Broom (柴茶) Type: Bundled Red Tea Harvest: Late April 2025 Region: Hunan Province, Xiangxi Prefecture, Hulu Township Producer: Xiangmiao Cooperative Tasting Notes: Vegetal, Floral, Cream, Apricot, Peach.
This was an experimental tea that the Xiangmiao Cooperative first offered last year. It utilizes longer, later season picks to make a deliciously light and bright red tea. The cute shape requires a good deal of extra labor, but makes the final product more appealing to Chinese consumers who may have a bias against longer leaf teas. This tea is not tightly bound, and if brewed whole in a tea pot, mug, or glass, the bundle will very quickly release its thick and fresh flavors. In contrast to the other red teas we have on offer, this a much lighter tea in body that is less greenly astringent than the stndard Huhong red tea's we have tried in past years. Indeed, this tea has no dryness in the throat or sharpness on the tongue.
We recommend enjoying this tea grandpa or conventional style, and absolutely without milk - it is a perfect Chinese red tea for green tea or Darjeeling Orthodox lovers.
Remarkably sweet, pleasing herbal aromatics, indeed it does evoke chewing fresh sugar cane. This was happily a blind-cake purchase, so it will be fun to check in a few times over a year and enjoy. Highly recommend this to all sheng enjoyers.
I *really* like this oolong. It has a slightly bitter honey taste and absolutely extraordinary aroma. I drink this gongfu style and by making big cups—both work great, and it's a little tricky to overbrew this. Just a fantastic tea.
