Tea: Fruit Fragrance Lapsang Souchong (Guohua Xiaozhong 果香小种)
Type: Tongmuguan Black Tea (hongcha)
Cultivar: Xiaozhong
Harvest: May, 2024
Region: Tongmuguan, Fujian
Producer: Zhang Family
Tasting Notes: Mango, Pomelo, Cinnamon, Rock Candy, Raw Honey
This is a black tea made in the modern style of production. Modernity came to the Tongmuguan region a little late, around the 1990s. Old Zhang told us how they used to walk down the mountain paths with the tea they made up on the mountain in the 1980s because inroads hadn't even been built yet. The Fruit Fragrance is surprisingly distinct from its close cousin the Flower Fragrance (Tongmuguan Flower), but the leaves like all the Tongmuguan teas remain relatively thin and slender.
When placed in the warmed gaiwan, the leaves exude a distinctly tropical fruit fragrance, we get mangos and something citrus like pomelo. This changes drastically once hot water is added and we get the classic cinnamon fragrance common to these modern production style Lapsang Souchong teas.
The brew is exceedingly clean, a dark amber with a sweetness reminiscent of the fruit fragrances we glimpsed earlier. There is a pleasant minerality that lingers on the tongue even in the first infusion (don't rinse these teas). As is common with black teas, we find that this tea performs best with water slightly cooler than boiling, anywhere from 80 to 90 degrees Celsius.
Check out the other offerings from the Zhang family, and watch the youtube video about our sourcing trip and their production methods!
