Red • Trapped in Amber - Gardenia Red | Floral, Honey, Hay

Farmer's Note

In 2002, we took over Longyuan Tea Garden and Factory from the local government. Step by step, we turned this space into a three-dimensional organic tea garden, focusing on biodiversity of trees, tea bushes and grass. We methodically planted and cared for over 30 different species of trees and 5 kinds of grass. Because of this unique environment, the surrounding areas regard our tea garden as a tourist attraction to get close to the nature and learn about tea agriculture. We are happy to accept that new reality, as income from tea-tourism allows us to invest more in the maintenance and enhancement of our organic tea garden.

This red tea uses Zhenghe Dabai variety, picked according to the one-bud-and-two-leaf standard. We intentionally prolonged the withering step to reduce its astringency. After the raw tea is made, it passes through a set of refining machines, cutting the tea leaves, and then screening them for length and weight, to achieve a uniformed appearance. The result is a consistent and flavorful red tea. In early June 2023, our friends from Hubei Province came to visit us. They brought a batch of freeze-dried gardenia flower petals that they grew in their garden. Out of curiosity, we threw some petals into a gaiwan that held Zhenghe Red. The brew blew us away; it’s exquisite and beautiful, We had to send some samples to Annie hoping more can experience that moment of surprise. We rarely scent our teas, but this is a worthy exception.

Steeping Instruction

Water temperature
212 F

Amount of tea
4 g

Water volume
12 oz

Time
2 min initial steeping time + 20 sec additional time increment for more than 1 steeping

Number of steep
4

Rinse
Yes