long kou mao | green

$9.89

This tea is certified organic and produced to fair labor standards.

Produced at Long Kou farm in southern China's Guangxi province,
Long Kou Mao is a "mao feng"-style session tea with a heavily layered flavor profile unlike common daily-drinker green teas. With a gentle white sugar aroma and lush emerald liquor, this tea was designed by long-time agronomist and soil expert Mingfu Lei to be a versatile, easy-drinking green well-suited to both traditional and modern brew methods.

Made from the Da Ye ("Big Leaf") cultivar known for producing juicy, well-rounded teas, Long Kou Mao is a product of the exceptionally biodiverse terroir of Long Kou farm—the plantation is managed well-beyond international organic standards, but is permitted to grow wild and is populated with a vast array of birds and insects that nurture the soil where the tea trees flourish. Both the enzyme-rich topsoil and the vast orange groves that surround the farm lend this tea a vaguely tropical sweetness reminiscent of smooth citrus and candied palm fruits.

Our partnership with Long Kou was formed over 5 years ago. Since then, we've worked jointly and on-site to consistently improve an already exemplary tea farm. The operation—situated in a province with an extended wet season that, come spring, multiplies wildlife density—is organized to preserve the ecosystem and cultivate robust teas that are a vivid reflection of the land. Long Kou Mao is one of only three selections (2, 3) we've made from Mingfu's garden that best represents the unique and undervalued characteristics of Guangxi's terroir.

BREWING GUIDELINES

(use freshly boiled mineral water)

traditional

(200 ml small vessel—yixing teapot, gaiwan)

5 grams—180°F (82°C)—10 seconds + 15 seconds each additional steep

modern

(400 ml large vessel—BOLI teapot, kettle steeper)

4 grams—180°F (82°C)—4 minutes