Meihouwang (Roasted Anxi Oolong)

The Meihouwang is a prime example of traditionally roasted Anxi Oolong tea.  The leaves have seen a mid-range of oxidization, plenty of green and grassiness remaining, while the roast is simply sublime.  This tea gives us everything we want out of a rich, full bodied, Autumn-harvest oolong.  From the leaves and liquor waft aromas of malted barley and warm cream, the brew is an oily dark gold, and the presence of this tea is both heavy on the tongue and deep in the stomach.

We received a sample of this tea from a ‘new-generation’ producer out of Anxi, and after drinking though the 14 grams fast, we turned around and bought 2kg.  As it became such a treasured daily-drinker for us, we began sampling it out to customers, and received such phenomenal feedback that here it is, on the site for pre-order.  We are only selling through the existing stock because we have yet to visit the farm to check that their environment, organizational structure, and tea processing are all up to our standards.  More information on the farm, the producer, and the tea will be released after we can visit the farmsite. Our trip has been delayed by COVID outbreaks in Guangdong and Fujian.

The Meihouwang is an Anxi Oolong made of the Jinguanyin (or Golden Goddess of Mercy) tea cultivar.  This cultivar is similar to the Tieguanyin (Iron Goddess of Mercy), but is significantly less cultivated.  We find it to be sweeter, creamier, and less vegetal than most Anxi Oolongs we have had in the past.  The small tails on the rolled leaves (detail in second photo) suggest that this tea has been hand-rolled when compared to the more uniform pearl-shape that oolongs obtain when machine rolled.