Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: deep green, tightly rolled
Ingredients: oolong tea
Steep time: 15 seconds
Water Temperature:
Preparation Method: porcelain gaiwan
Liquor: greenish yellow
Upon first impression, I just had to squee at the beautiful packaging of this offering from +Tea Descendants. Clean and modern labels combined with a very nice double lidded tin are always something I like to see. I also really liked that the tea inside was packaged in individual vacuum sealed packets. A handy little pamphlet inside gave thorough directions for gongfu preparation. Smooth Floral Touch seems like a most unusual name for tea but in this case I have to say that it was a pretty accurate description. Vegetal notes of sugar snap peas faded into an intense orchid aroma. The mouth-feel was buttery and thick with no dryness or astringency. I lost track of the number of infusions but that alone should tell you that there was a lot of them. There’s nothing quite like a tea with a good story and I was drawn in by Tea Descendants. Their family has been making tea in Hemei Village in Anxi for generations without the use of pesticides. The company was born of a trip to retrace with those roots. Check out the video of their beautiful tea fields below! I must confess to not usually being a fan of Anxi Tie Guan Yin. This tea was a very rare exception to that rule. It isn’t neon green as they are often are now but also not roasted beyond recognition. The company sells a lighter tea as well as a darker version. I’ll definitely have to check those out to see how they compare.
Smooth Floral Touch sample provided for review by Tea Descendants.
He Mei Village from Tea Descendants on Vimeo.