HOT ! Huang Guan Yin

When we select tea, we want it to have been grown by experienced farmers on experienced soil. Once the leaves are plucked, we want it to have been processed by experienced tea masters. So, where can we find experienced soil, experienced farmers, and experienced tea masters? Really, we can only find all of these together in the most historically significant growing regions. Wuyi Mountain is definitely among the top of that list. 

Wuyi is considered to be one of the birthplaces of oolong tea. It\'s where they invented the idea of rolling and bruising tea leaves, and then letting them sit and oxidize, and then roasting them to caramelize the sugars and remove the water. This led to the development of black tea which was cheaper and more shelf stable, which made it easier to ship, and the rest is history. 

Huang Guan Yin caught us by surprise because most Wuyi Mountain oolongs are made from famous old cultivars. Huang Guan Yin is a cross between Huang Zhi Xiang (native to Phoenix Mtn) and Tie Guan Yin cultivars. We love the richness of this tea. We find creamy notes of marshmallow, toasty notes of graham cracker, and tangy notes of dark chocolate, hence the \"S\'mores\" flavor note. 

A very flexible tea that can be brewed in a gaiwan, a clay pot, a glass pot, or grandpa style, though it will usually perform best in a gaiwan or clay pot.