Osmanthus Black Tea

Like Jasmine green tea, this osmanthus black tea also uses the traditional scenting process, mixing the black tea and fresh osmanthus together, so that the tea can fully absorb the osmanthus aroma. The proportioning of osmanthus and black tea are suitable, and the dry tea is dotted with star-shaped osmanthus, smelling very pleasant. With the Gaiwan is slowly filled by water, the osmanthus fragrance is scattered. The tea infusion tastes sweet and mellow with the aroma of honey as well as light caramel. Whether it's brewed in hot or cold way, this osmanthus black tea integrated with the mellowness of black tea and sweetness of osmanthus will give you a moment of relaxation.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	194℉ / 90℃		194℉ / 90℃
	2 Teaspoons / 3g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 3 - 5 mins		6 steeps: rinse, 10s, 15s, 25s, 35s, 50s, 80s

Shan Zha Kou Tea Garden, a high mountain tea garden far away from city, takes about one and a half hours o drive from Songyang City. The whole tea garden not only has no industry, maintaining the original ecological growth environment, but also is in the upstream of the reservoir, which is the source of drinking water. The tea garden, about 600-800 meters above sea level, surrounded by the original forest, is rich in negative oxygen ions. The soil of this tea garden is rich in many minerals, so the tea trees here contain more amino acids and vitamins and other trace elements.

Landscape of Shan Zha Kou Tea Garden

The sunrise in the tea garden
Photograph by TeaVivre Member Chris

Mr. Kong has been involved in the tea industry for more than ten years, and focuses on providing high-quality teas to tea lovers and on producing increasingly natural, safe, and healthy teas. When asked how he feels about tea culture, he told us: “Tea culture is a concept which is different for people in different areas. Although it is complex, one thing is for sure: just like managing any other enterprise, tea culture also needs to be managed to keep up with the fast pace of development in the modern world.”

Songyang County, part of Lishui City, is located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, known as “the first county of Zhejiang ecology green tea”. According to historical records, early in the Three Kingdoms period, Songyang began to produce tea. Songyang County is mainly covered by hills, surrounded by mountains, which makes it have organic matters and health ecological environment that provide a good natural condition for the growth of tea trees.

The fresh tea leaves are from tea plants of the Jiukeng species, also called Jiukeng Big-leaf. This variety of tea plant was originally found in Chun’an, Kaihua, in Zhejiang Province, and Shexian in Anhui Province. In the 1950s, it was introduced to tea-growing areas all around Zhejiang. In 1985 it was verified as a national species with number GS13023-1985 by the National Crop Variety Certification Committee. The dry leaves of the spring tea from this species contain about 3.4% amino acid, 20.9% tea polyphenols, 13.3% catechin and 4.1% caffeine, which makes them well suited for producing green tea.