Selections

Champagne Black Tea (Professors Pick)

Wu Mountain’s Champagne Black Tea is the custom creation of world-renowned tea specialist, Dr. Zhang, a tea researcher with expertise in tea growth, cultivation and processing. The production style innovated by Dr. Zhang in the creation of Champagne Black Tea is unique for several reasons.

First, tea plants cultivated for Champagne Black production are of the Jinxuan cultivar, a prized strain that uniquely attracts a specific insect known as the small green leafhopper. Light leafhopper infestation causes natural changes in tea leaf metabolism, creating entirely unique aroma compounds. The newly formed aroma notes in “bug-bitten” tea are characteristically floral, fruity and sweet.

Using these distinct Jinxuan tea leaves, Dr. Zhang further applies his custom processing technique that includes slow baking at low temperatures over several hours. Avoiding excessive heat during the slow-roasting process allows Champagne Black to develop mellow and savory undertones that balance the leafhopper-induced stonefruit/floral headnotes.

This one-of-a-kind offering is the result of years of research and development, a treasure to be enjoyed anytime, and worthy of top-shelf placement in any connoisseur collection.

2014 Silver Needle White Tea

Traditional Chinese wisdom attests that 5 years-aged White Tea is a treasure, while 7 years-aged White Tea is medicine (the saying also rhymes in Chinese, making it much catchier). To this day, the metabolic profile of aged White Tea remains an active area of research. So far, we know that one important factor in White Tea transformation with age comes from its craftsmanship, a process that excludes high-heat enzymatic fixing. With a small amount of enzymatic activity preserved, White Tea sees the slow accumulation of unique and beneficial tea leaf phytonutrients over time.

In 2014, with the hopes of offering our own aged White Tea someday, we set aside a limited quantity of that years Silver Needle White Tea for storage in a cool, dark and dry environment. From there, we let nature take its course. In 2023, the same Silver Needle White Tea is now a bona fide medicinal treasure.

Aside from health benefits including cardioprotective, anti-diabetic and neuroprotective, much of the treasured value of aged White Tea derives from its unique flavor profile. Continuous aging not only creates healthful compounds, but uniquely flavorful ones too. At the time of storage in 2014, our Silver Needle White Tea brewed an infusion that was bright, brisk, and slightly tannic, a taste profile that has matured into a richer, smoother and more mellow composition. Newly formed aroma notes of molasses and Maplewood have replaced the heady honeysuckle tang of the tea’s formative years.

Overall, this Wu Mountain Exclusive Tea offering is a unique treat to share with fellow tea lovers over the months and years to come. For more detailed information on White Tea, including production techniques and health benefits, check out our three-part blog series on the topic here.

(Note: this product is packaged in half pound (227 gram) bags. Due to limited quantity, we request only one order per customer please).

Old-Arbor Yunnan Gold

A unique black tea offering sourced selectively from an old-growth forest in Southwest Yunnan, the evolutionary birthplace of the tea plant itself. Tea trees cultivated for Old-Arbor Yunnan Gold are well over 100 hundred years of age, and possess deep roots, large frames and hearty leaves and shoots. Over the years, these centenarian tea trees have developed increasingly unique and complex metabolic profiles, shooting leaves that embody a richer, thicker, and more distinctive flavor profile. The creation of Old-Arbor Yunnan Gold employs the time-tested sun-drying method, which allows for the formation of more mellow taste and bolder fruit notes in the aroma. Combined with the naturally nutrient-rich old tree material, Yunnan Gold craftsmanship shapes a wild-grown plant medicinal into a flavorful and aromatic health-beverage. For those seeking to taste Black Tea in its most naturally rich and essential form, Old-Arbor Yunnan Gold is a must-try.

2020 Yunnan Moonlight White Tea

‘Moonlight’ white indicates high-grade white tea crafted from Yunnan large-leaf tea cultivars. One intrinsic trait of large-leaf tea cultivars is the abundance of small hairs on the shoots and leaves. White tea craftsmanship involves a prolonged leaf withering process, causing these tea leaf hairs to turn white/grey, while the color of the leaf itself becomes a darker green or black. The resulting black/white contrast gave birth to the name ‘moonlight’ white tea.

A first-flush Spring 2020 tea, our now 3-years-old Moonlight White Tea has a rich, full-bodied flavor with a long-lasting molasses finish. The aroma is robustly floral with notes of maple and honey. The tea has been pressed into 100g cakes, making it convenient for storage, aging, gifting, or travel. Finally, the tea is USDA-certified organic, the highest tier of assurance concerning consumer and environmental well-being. For more detailed information on White Tea, including production techniques and health benefits, check out our three-part blog series on the topic here.