Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Cake 2019 - Sui Yue

This white tea is made from leaves picked in the spring of 2019, naturally aged for several years, and pressed into cakes in 2023. The appearance of the tea is typical of Shou Mei style, with thick strands covered in white fuzz, and a color that intermingles yellow and brown hues. The dry leaves emit a faint aroma of hay and fruit. Once brewed, the tea liquor is a clear golden yellow, with a distinct jujube aroma. The taste is smooth and gentle, sweet upon first sip, with a lingering aftertaste. It is an ideal choice for aged white tea, well-suited for long-term storage, as its flavor will continue to evolve over time, becoming increasingly rich and aromatic.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	203℉ / 95℃		203℉ / 95℃
	5g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 5 - 8 mins		9 steeps: rinse, 30s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 90s, 120s, 160s
			Rinse time is around 5 seconds

Jingu Village, a natural village under Panxi Town, has a long history of tea cultivation. The village boasts extensive forest coverage. Besides growing tea and other crops, bamboo is also a major agricultural product of the area. The local climate is a mid-subtropical monsoon climate, with distinct seasons and an extremely beautiful environment. It enjoys abundant sunlight and rainfall, with an average annual temperature of 16.4 degrees Celsius. The area is characterized by undulating mountains and dense forests, with clear mountains and waters, providing a great environmental advantage and historical foundation for tea cultivation.

Panxi is a famous tea production area located in the northeast part of Fujian Province. Fuding experiences the subtropical monsoon climate characteristic of coastal areas, and has an average annual sunshine of about 1840 hours, and average temperature right around 18.5°C with rainfall of about 1661.6mm. This tropical mountainous coastal area is perfect for growing pekoe tea, with its abundant rainfall and comfortable temperatures neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter. The mountains around the farms here are about 80% forested, ensuring the soil retains a high natural fertility and with abundant organic content, in turn eliminating the need to use fertilizers.

This Silver Needle white tea is made from the leaves of the Fuding Dabaihao plant, also called Dahao for short. It propagates asexually and takes the form of a small tree. In 1985 it was certified as a national tea plant variety, and can grow up to 2.8m high with a thick trunk. The spring tea from this bush contains 1.8% amino acids and 28.2% tea polyphenols, marking it as a high-quality base for making Silver Needle and White Peony teas.

White tea was originally produced in the area around the city of Fuding in Fujian Province, and later spread to the areas around the cities of Shuiji and Zhenghe. The first type of white tea produced was Silver Needle tea, in the area around Taimu Mountain near Fuding.

Originally this tea was made from the buds of the Xiaobai variety of tea bush, smaller and slower-growing, which meant that the tea was rarer and more expensive. Around 1857, though, farmers of Shuiji began using the Dabaihao variety instead, with larger buds and the ability to produce better quality tea overall, with more white hairs on the buds and a stronger fragrance and taste. From then on, most kinds of white tea are made from the Dabaihao tea plants.