This is one of the teas we almost didn’t put on the website.
We got access to this batch through my tea teacher, Ms. Fu, who has long-standing relationships in Shifeng — the core production area of West Lake Long Jing. Teas like this are usually spoken for early and move within those circles. We were able to take less than a kilo.
What made us take it was simple: this is what toucai is supposed to taste like.
Picked as the very first harvest of the season from Quntizhong bushes, the leaves carry a level of internal content that later picks can’t match. There’s no need to push the processing — no heavy firing, no tricks. Just clean handling and the tea does the work.
In the cup it shows immediately:
a soft but deep umami, sweetness that builds, and a finish that stays with you. What stood out most to us was how durable it is — unusually so for such an early pick. You can push it, refill it, and it keeps giving.
Compared to our Long Jing from Li Jia Wu, this is simply a step up across the board. Being from Shifeng — the grade 1 core area — you taste it in the aroma, in the depth, and especially in how long the tea holds.
This is the kind of batch we normally keep for ourselves as a benchmark.
Brewing
Works best simple: glass, ~95°C, xiatoufa
Drink it grandpa-style and keep refilling — it holds
