Fuding Shou Mei White Tea Cake 2019 – Yi Pin Cha Xiang

"Bai Lu (white dew) Tea" refers to the tea leaves harvested after the "Bai Lu (白露)" period in September each year. After enduring the scorching heat of summer, tea plants enter a prime growth period. The tea from this time is neither as tender as spring tea nor as dry and bitter as summer tea, but has a unique, sweet, and mellow taste, making it very popular among seasoned tea drinkers.

The dry leaves of this tea exude a faint aroma of peoke fragrance and chen xiang, with a bright golden color. The tea has a rich, sweet taste, smooth and soft, with a sweet jujube and woody aroma upon first sip. It is neither bitter nor astringent, leaving a warm and gentle aftertaste in the throat. The lingering honey flavor at the bottom of the cup lasts, providing a soothing experience for both the body and mind.

	Cup Method		Chinese Gongfu Method
	Teacup: 12oz / 355ml		Gaiwan: 3.8oz / 110ml
	203℉ / 95℃		203℉ / 95℃
	5g Tea		5g Tea
	Brewing time: 3 - 5 mins		10 steeps: rinse, 15s, 20s, 20s, 20s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 50s, 70s, 100s
			Rinse time is around 5 seconds

Tian Zhu White Tea Garden is located in Fuding City's Guanyang Town. Guanyang is a typical representative of Fuding White Tea's key alpine production location. The majority of the tea plantations here are higher than 600 meters. And our tea garden is located at an altitude of about 720m. The area is scarcely populated, and it is surrounded by rain and fog. Because of the high altitude, there is a big temperature difference between day and night, and the tea trees grow slowly, making the white tea rich in substances, amino acid and tea polyphenol content are more than in other locations, and the sweetness is also extremely high.

As we all know, the world’s white tea is in China, and Chinese white tea is in Fuding. Mr. Chen was born in Fuding, Fujian Province. He has been influenced by tea since he was a child. It seems that he came with the mission of inheriting white tea culture from the moment he was born. He has been engaged in tea cultivation and production for more than 30 years, and has always adhered to the principle of "quality first" for many years. He is not only a successful tea industry operator, but also an excellent inheritor of white tea culture, allowing more people to taste and understand Fuding white tea.

Guanyang Town is located in the northwest of Fuding. The whole town is located in a high mountain area, which belongs to the extended mountain range of Taimu Mountain. Guanyang Town has no industry and is a water source protection area in Fuding. The tea bases in Guanyang are located on the high mountain. The temperature is lower than that in the urban area all year round, and the temperature variation between day and night is significant. Appropriate temperature increases the activity of enzymes in the tea tree, which promotes the transformation and accumulation of the chemicals in the tea, completely representing the high-quality characteristics of white tea. Furthermore, the area is blanketed in clouds and mist all year, and sunlight can be scattered, which boosts nitrogen metabolism in tea plants and aids in the production of amino acids, caffeine, and other fragrant chemicals. This kind of climate, combined with good water quality, results in Guanyang white tea of exceptional quality, which is much sought after by white tea enthusiasts.

This cake is made of the leaves of the Fuding Dabaihao plant, called Dahao for short. It is a small tree that propagates asexually.

In 1985, Dahao was certified as a national variety of tea plant. It grows up to 2.8m tall with a thick trunk. The tea from the spring leaves of the bush contains 1.8% amino acids and 28.2% tea polyphenols, which marks it as a high-quality base for making white tea in particular.

Tea has been grown in Fujian for centuries as an ever-important staple of commerce and trade throughout ancient China. Originally, the process of drying the leaves was followed by a variation of hot-air drying and sun-drying, a meticulous step intended to remove excess water from the leaves to ease the preservation process and preserve the tea for sale. The leaves of tea dried in this way were often compared to the eyebrows of Shouxing, the longest-living man in mythology. It is from this myth that Shou Mei earned its name, from the Chinese for “long curved eyebrow”, 眉毛, or ‘meimao’.