{"title":"Rare","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese are teas that we are very fortunate to acquire, even in small quantities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese teas are extremely terroir specific: they will be indigenous varietals that come from a single cliff or village, often in a protected area that is famous for producing this kind of tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsually these teas will be wild foraged, or come from very old groves of tea trees. They are handled with great respect by skilled craftsmen who have inherited traditional methods specific to these varieties and historic regions.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"first-harvest-dragon-well","title":"Master Tang's Dragonwell","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe notorious Dragonwell takes us to the epicenter of traditional Chinese green tea. The true name of Longjing is actually \u003cem\u003eXihu Longjing\u003c\/em\u003e or \"West Lake Dragonwell.\" \u003cem\u003eXihu\u003c\/em\u003e refers to West Lake in Hangzhou, pristine water surrounded by beautiful classical gardens, pagodas, and temples, with hills and mountains framing three of its sides.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis terroir is of fundamental importance to Longjing tea. Following tradition, the core producing region of Longjing in Xihu is divided into five areas that correspond to the mountains: Shi (Lion), Long (Dragon), Yun (Cloud), Hu (Tiger), Mei (Mume). Our Longjing is from Baihefeng, or \"White Crane Peak,\" which belongs to the Long (Dragon) subdivision of the region, 6 km southwest of Xihu West Lake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe uniqueness of Longjing from Baihefeng is a result of both the soil and cultivar of the tea plants. The soil on Baihefeng is unique: a white, sandy soil composed mostly of pebble-sized fragments of white quartzite, which has been weathered and eroded. Thus, it is very rich in the minerals that are absorbed by the roots of the tea plants.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cultivar is an indigenous varietal called Quntizhong. This is an inherited cultivar, more traditional than the commonly used, Longjing 43. Quntizhong dates back more than 1000 years ago, to the Qing Dynasty, meaning this tea tastes very much like old-style Longjing that ancestors would have enjoyed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur Dragonwell is crafted by the one and only tea master, Tang Xiaojun. Tang is famous for crafting the finest and most historically accurate Dragonwell entirely by hand. Each year, he makes a very limited quantity of handcrafted Dragonwell for sale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a particularly balanced harvest for this tea, that we can attribute partially to the favourable weather leading up to its harvest. Each experienced tea picker is only able to pick around 1000g of fresh leaves each day on account of the rigorous picking standards. Once harvested, the fresh leaves are set out on a bamboo mat and withered for 4-8 hours, depending on the temperature, humidity, and the amount of sunlight each day. The leaves are then pan fried in small batches for two rounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first round, known as the \"kill-green\" process, usually lasts for 10 minutes, and is used to hand-shape and flatten the leaves. The second round lasts around 30 minutes, during which the experience of the tea maker is crucial, as a series of different gestures and movements are required throughout this process - shaking, pushing, holding, pressing and rubbing - all while the pan is at an extremely high temperature of 300°C. This technique takes years of experience to perfect, and when mastered, ensures the finished tea has a better aroma and less astringency.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter pan frying, the leaves are aged with limestone in a large earthenware vessel for 5 days. This is an important step in making traditional Longjing, as the limestone helps absorb any remaining moisture in the leaves without absorbing the tea's aroma with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou will notice right away that Dragonwell tea leaves appear unusually flat and broad. This is from the hand shaping that happens in the pan frying stages. They pile on top of one another in the gaiwan like narrow sheets of paper, and open quickly as soon as they meet water, becoming vibrant and dimensional, like images in a picture book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir liquor looks like melted quartz or glacier runoff: a clear, icy green that reminds us of the mountain lake around which these tea leaves grew. It has a soft, delicate mouthfeel that increases in density and unity through infusions. In terms of tasting notes, its elegance is in its quietness, but we do get distinct hints of jungle flowers, orchids, and water plants. This tea is so gentle on the palate, we would not expect it to deliver the amount of energy that it does. This pleasant heat and stimulation builds through infusions, creating circulation through the whole body. Truly, this is not a tea to underestimate, on any level.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate","offers":[{"title":"2.5g","offer_id":32152343674985,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"10g","offer_id":52061157916952,"sku":null,"price":120.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260602_Cultivate_0967_WEB.jpg?v=1781107153"},{"product_id":"lapsang-souchong","title":"Lapsang Souchong 2012 Reserve","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis traditional Zhenshan Xiaozhong, or \"Lapsang Souchong,\" comes from Mali Village in the Tongmuguan region of Wuyishan. At 1600 m above sea level, Mali Village sits at the highest mountain peak within this area. This high altitude region, which sees a great deal of rainfall, suspended fog, and drastic fluctuations in temperature throughout the day, produces some of the best black teas in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis should not be read as a platitude: Tongmuguan is known as the birthplace of black tea, and is one of the most revered tea regions in China. The expanse of healthy, mountainous forest here is breathtaking. Tea plants grow strong and resilient here, scattered throughout the steep hills, supported by the diverse forest, and sheltered by bamboo trees and rocky outcroppings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves for this Lapsang Souchong come from these semi-wild groves of tea trees. Once picked, they are slow-smoked in a small wooden house. This structure was built out of local pine in the 1930's and has been used continuously since, developing complex layers of aroma.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTraditional lapsang souchong is distinctly smokey, but not overpowering. The notes of smoke, ash, and forest are integrated with the sap-like sweetness of the oxidized tea leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile still caffeinated, this tea is deeply soothing. Perhaps because its gentle warmth feels like a perfect inverse of the cool, wet, challenging conditions that produce it. It is, by nature, restorative, offering what some describe as a spa-like experience.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":32102929989737,"sku":"","price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":32102930022505,"sku":"","price":130.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":39283116245097,"sku":"","price":250.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/lapsangsouchong.jpg?v=1774102120"},{"product_id":"true-cliff-dahong-pao","title":"Dahongpao Jade Lion Cliff 2014","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis True Cliff yancha is a blend of three varietals: Rougui, Shuixian and Meizhan. Its name, \"Dahongpao,\" or \"Big Red Robe\" is a reference to a famous story that describes how Wuyi Mountain teas became protected tribute teas for emperors. It reminds us of the 6 original mother trees in this region, which were once cloaked in red robes at the request of the emperor, so that they would be cared for like an extension of his family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis \"Dahongpao\" is an experimental tea, crafted to reference what the tea of Big Red Robe might taste like. While no one is allowed to harvest leaves from the original mother trees anymore, this tea comes by its name honestly: the artisan who crafts it is named Dahongpao, after original Wuyi Rock tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe modeled this tea after what people imagine Dahongpao would have tasted like almost a thousand years ago. It is True Cliff, from Qingshiyan, or \"Jade Lion Cliff,\" inside the boundaries of Wuyi Nature Reserve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQingshiyan (Jade Lion Cliff) is situated close to Shuiliandong (Water Curtain Cave). Its name reflects the shape of the Cliff, which looks like a crouching lion. The tea trees of Qingshiyan are shaded by bamboo trees and surrounded by a high diversity of flora and fauna. A stream flows continuously at Qingshiyan, throughout every season. The water accumulates at the bottom of the cliff, forming a small pool that is always present, whether it is winter or summer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe craftsmanship of this tea acknowledges a generational understanding of what constitutes an excellent True Cliff oolong. The quality of the three teas used in this tea, as well as this experiment in cultural memory, make this yancha particularly captivating.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is explosive on the palate, as the complexity of all three varietals come forward at once. Its exponential mineral notes wake up the senses, acting a bit like sake kasu or umami in that it makes us taste \u003cem\u003emore\u003c\/em\u003e. This opening and expanding quality is true for the energy of the tea as well: it has an extroverting effect, and one that broadens our awareness of what surrounds us. There is great imagination in this Rock Oolong.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":32102739640425,"sku":"","price":95.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":32102739673193,"sku":"","price":185.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/dahongpao_e0ee756a-a6dd-4b2f-b80e-25ef6145eed1.jpg?v=1782428379"},{"product_id":"semi-wild-silver-needle","title":"Semi Wild Silver Needle","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Semi Wild Silver Needle comes to us from one of our well-respected tea foragers, Mr. Fan, also aptly known as \"Hunter.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is made from trees planted by tea farmers in the 1970's that were abandoned as people left the villages for coastal cities. They grow amidst thousands of acres of old growth forest. Here, tea trees compete with a variety of other plants for sunlight, causing their roots to extend deep into the earth to draw nutrients. They grow slowly in the wild, accumulating these nutrients and compounds in their leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Fan crafts his white teas traditionally: the leaves are naturally withered and dried by sunlight, a slow and delicate process that takes between 48 and 60 hours. However simple it may sound, this method requires painstaking care and attention, along with a great deal of experience to do well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves are picked early in the morning and carefully carried down the mountain in bamboo baskets to ensure that they are not damaged as they are handled. Then the leaves are swiftly spread out on bamboo mats, initiating the process of withering. While they wither in the sun their moisture level is monitored closely. When it reaches around 50% the leaves are moved indoors. And finally, when the moisture level reaches 10-20%, the leaves are gently roasted over warm charcoal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSilver Needle is considered the most precious of all white teas as it is made entirely of the fresh, single buds of the trees. Approximately 30,000 buds are needed to make 500 grams of tea and it requires great understanding of the trees to successfully harvest the buds before they sprout leaves. A very good harvest will depend on an unforeseeable cooperation between the budding trees and the weather.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Silver Needle has unique notes of wet bark and oud that point to its wild origin. Its mouthfeel is soft and suede-like, aligned with its creamy undertone. In later infusions it has amassed a dense sweetness, while maintaining its soft, uplifting qualities, reminding us of fresh soymilk.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":32459980505193,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":32459980537961,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":32459980570729,"sku":"","price":190.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260316_Cultivate_18670_WEB.jpg?v=1773981373"},{"product_id":"yongchun-buddha-s-hand-first-day-harvest-2019","title":"Semi Wild Buddha's Hand","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis oolong comes to us from tea historian and forager, Mei, who seeks indigenous and forgotten Shuixian and Buddha's Hand growing throughout the jungles of Yongchun, Fujian.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe origin of Buddha's Hand tea can be traced back to an ancient temple on Shifeng Cliff, Yongchun. Fingered citron, a very fragrant and unusual looking citrus fruit, is a common offering in temples. Soon after the temple was built in the late 1600's, monks planted fingered citron trees to worship Buddha. They also planted tea trees, as they drank tea daily while meditating. The story goes that, one monk thought it would be nice to have a tea with citrus scent. He grafted branches of a tea tree onto the fingered citron tree, carefully cared for it, and successfully made tea from the leaves. It is said that these tea leaves were \"as big as Buddha's hands,\" and carried the natural scent of fingered citron. There are still 89 mother Buddha's Hand trees, all over 300 years old, surrounding the temple today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Buddha's Hand is from old groves of tea trees on Yinshi Mountain, one of the highest peaks in Yongchun. The trees were planted in the 1940's, and only discovered a few years ago. Because of the high altitude and remoteness of its location, these tea trees had been left to grow in the wild, with no human intervention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo make this tea, very young leaves were harvested on the second day of the season, as these tender leaves produce tea that is exceptionally sweet and milky. The fresh leaves are foraged by a small group of nine local villagers, and handcrafted by Mr. Liu, one of the most earnest and dedicated tea makers we've ever encountered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe resulting tea is one of our all-time favourite oolongs. It is sweet, smooth, floral, milky and complex. All of its attributes are very well balanced, giving this tea depth and an integrated profile. It opens with floral and nutty notes, reminiscent of roasted sunflower seeds and fresh fava beans. Later infusions reveal fruity notes, like apricot and pear, with a mouthcoating sweetness similar to an ice wine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":32459984109673,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":32459984142441,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/semiwildbuddhand.jpg?v=1774101381"},{"product_id":"birds-tongue","title":"Gardenia Bird's Tongue","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe evocative name \"Que She,\" which translates to \"Bird's Tongue,\" references the tiny, elongated, and tender leaves of this varietal of green tea. This experimental flower tea is crafted with First Harvest leaves, picked at the end of March, on the sacred Menging Mountain. While all First Harvest teas require careful attention and patience to collect, Bird's Tongue may be the most tedious. These sprouts are so small that each serving of tea contains over 300 buds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe consider this an experimental tea as we have never come across gardenia scented tea, let alone a Bird's Tongue, before this one. It is far more common to scent tea using jasmine or osmanthus flowers, as these flowers can be cultivated on a farm. But gardenias are very delicate and difficult to cultivate. They have to be found in the wild, foraged, and transported quickly to where they can be combined with the tea. To forage enough flowers for the required number of rounds of scenting is almost unimaginable, making this tea a bit of a phenomenon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe scenting process begins in June, immediately after the wild gardenia flowers bloom in the Mengding Mountains. The flower buds are foraged just before they open, when their scent is lighter and not likely to overtake the tea as the mature flowers would.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlower-scenting tea is a time-honoured process that takes roughly two weeks. Gardenia Bird's Tongue sees seven rounds of scenting. Each round begins just before midnight; a time chosen on behalf of the flowers, as they emit the most compelling fragrance overnight. The green tea leaves are thinly spread out on bamboo mats, then fresh gardenias are scattered and mixed in with the tea. Left like this overnight, the tea absorbs the aromatic oils from the flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach scenting cycle mirrors a sleep cycle, lasting eight hours until the following morning. After they share in this sleep, the flowers are separated from the tea and dried over warm charcoal. The leaves rest for two days, and then another round of scenting begins with fresh flowers. After seven sleeps, the Bird's Tongue carries the gardenia within it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the gaiwan the dense tea buds float on top of the water, slowly sinking through infusions. They brew a glowing liquor with notes of pitted fruit and cherry leaf, amplified by a juicy acidity. On the finish we taste hints of pandan and pungent flowers. By the fourth and fifth infusions a bright, lemony sweetness emerges, a bit like meringue. There is a deep warmth to this tea, and we appreciate a green tea that conjures so much purple and red in its flavour. This is an excellent tea for high summer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":32877398196329,"sku":"","price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":32877398229097,"sku":"","price":130.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/july-tea-back-bar-v1-1534.jpg?v=1753376903"},{"product_id":"rose-keemun-gold","title":"Rose Keemun Gold","description":"\u003cp\u003eRose Keemun Gold is an experimental small-batch tea made with the highest grade Keemun black tea from Qimen county, Anhui province. What makes this black tea particularly special is that it has been very successfully scented with freshly harvested heirloom roses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe art of scenting tea leaves with fresh flowers is a centuries-old tradition, dating back to the Song Dynasty. Modern methods have come to favour quick integration, meaning that usually a \"rose scented black tea\" will simply mean that either rose oil, extract or flavoring has been added to dried tea leaves. This tea was made with the intention to honour ancestral knowledge, thus great effort and attention was dedicated to the traditional scenting process in its craftsmanship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Keemun black tea used for it is crafted in April and then held for when the China roses bloom in July. As the roses begin to open the craftsmen bring the Keemun tea to the flowers, where they are able to scent the tea with their strongest and freshest aroma.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe scenting is best done in small batches and by hand to ensure even distribution. Equal amounts of the freshly picked China roses are scattered over the Keemun Gold tea. They lay together overnight, then the craftsmen separate the rose petals from the tea leaves the following day. Afterwards the tea is slowly roasted over charcoal for a few hours. This batch of Keemun Gold underwent two rounds of scenting with fresh roses, and as a result, has captured so much of the essence of the roses you would swear they are blooming nearby when you brew it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe liquor this tea is a rich, golden orange colour. The flavour of roses it carries is vivid and alive - we feel the flowers' oil, perfume, and plant matter all together. The subtle tannins of the Keemun black lift the roses upwards into our palates, causing the flowers to fill our head. After a few infusions, as the liquor deepens in its copper hue, the nutrients and ascorbic acid of the roses emerge, offering us something both intoxicating and deeply soothing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":33094866468969,"sku":"","price":52.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":33096595996777,"sku":"","price":100.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/cultivate-feb-17-tea-thumbnail-v3-0056.jpg?v=1740527874"},{"product_id":"wild-white","title":"Wild White 2015 Reserve","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis 2015 Wild White comes to us from one of our well-respected tea foragers, Mr. Fan, also aptly known as \"Hunter.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is made from trees planted by tea farmers in the 1970's that were abandoned as people left the villages for coastal cities. They grow amidst thousands of acres of old growth forest. Here, tea trees compete with a variety of other plants for sunlight, causing their roots to extend deep into the earth to draw nutrients. Some are so tall that villagers must prop ladders against their trunks to harvest their leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBig White is an ancient varietal of tea tree, indigenous to Zhenghe, with origins tracing back to the Song Dynasty. If only the bud is picked, then the white tea would be a Silver Needle. Wild White \"Big\" consists of the bud, leaves, and stem, and is considered a Shou Mei.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhite teas, especially a Shoumei grade, look rustic and full of vitality. They are well suited for aging, as they have nutrients in them that develop character over time, and pressing them into a cake as Hunter has done here encourages an effective aging process. (A common saying suggests that at 3 years white tea becomes a medicine, and at 7 years, a treasure. This tea is now at an age that it would be considered both!)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea is made following local traditional craftsmanship, which involves slow, indoor drying. It was indoors for 18 days before being pressed into cakes, and has not been sun-dried, baked, or even roasted over charcoal. The cakes are beautiful to look at, displaying the tonal array of various stages of oxidation, while maintaining a sheen on account of such delicate handling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you might expect, this is a deeper white tea: we taste more earth matter, burnt sugars, and cooked fruit — all qualities that come with age. It is grounding, slightly tannic, and warming, evolving through infusions with an even temper — another attribute of age, or wisdom.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":33121776271465,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":33122305376361,"sku":"","price":80.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":33122305409129,"sku":"","price":150.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260316_Cultivate_19125_WEBcopy.jpg?v=1773981534"},{"product_id":"yuzu-gold-guanyin","title":"Yuzu \u0026 Gold Guanyin","description":"\u003cp\u003eThere is an unmissable floral quality to the scent of yuzu, while it references almost every citrus imaginable — grapefruit, sweet orange, bergamot, lime. The complexity of its scent is so beguiling we want to keep returning to it, like a puzzle one can never quite solve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYuzu is believed to have originated along the Yangtze River in China. It is a hybrid of an ancient lime, called Ichang Papeda 宜昌橙, and a sour mandarin orange. Depending on its ripeness it appears in many vibrant colours - yellow, orange, or green - with dense, dimpled peels. Yuzu first arrived in Japan, where it is now far more common, during the Tang Dynasty over 1000 years ago. While yuzu has since become widely cultivated in Japan and integrated into Japanese cooking, it is very rare in China, with only a few farms still growing it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe are amazed to have found this Gold Guanyin black tea scented with yuzu from one of the few farms in China that still grows it. This tea is extremely rare, not only for its use of Chinese yuzu, but also for the meticulous process in which the black tea is scented by hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor this tea the scent of both unripe and ripe yuzu have been transferred to semi-wild Guanyin tea leaves from Longquan. Through the careful scenting process, this rich black tea has captured and preserved the intense, aromatic oils of the citrus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo do this unripened, green yuzu was harvested early in September. Each yuzu was peeled by hand, their rinds were broken apart into pieces, spread out on wide, bamboo trays, and then layered with tea leaves. The tea and peel rest in the open air for 12 hours like this, then the trays are baked at low temperatures to ensure all of the citrus' oils have transferred to the tea leaves. This process is repeated with the sweeter, and riper, orange yuzu near the end of October. The tea was then transferred to a sealed container and combined with dried peels, both green and orange, that have been crushed into very small pieces. When you prepare this tea you will see the little pieces of citrus peel reanimate, looking almost fluorescent amongst the dark tea leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSaturated with aromatic oils from the yuzu peels, this tea is intensely fragrant. On the palate the bright citrus taste comes first, then finishes with sweet, caramel notes from the black tea. This tea is as compelling as yuzu is, balanced by the soothing and earthy qualities of the semi-wild Guanyin. It is also tireless: the scent of yuzu lingers in the room after many infusions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39331818405993,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":39477539340393,"sku":"","price":86.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/yuzu.jpg?v=1774102191"},{"product_id":"silk-chrysanthemum","title":"Silk Chrysanthemum Cake","description":"\u003cp\u003eMedicinal, citrusy, intensely pretty and potent: freshly pressed Silk Chrysanthemum Cake has returned this year so we can bask in its pristine, bright yellow, sun-like glory. This is a tea born out of love and respect for traditions, heritage, and nature. It is crafted by Mei and Yu, who are committed to natural farming methods, and maintaining regional methods of craftsmanship that have been passed down for generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo make this masterpiece, each chrysanthemum flower is harvested carefully by hand in the morning. At night, they are processed using a centuries-old steaming method. Wood from local camphor trees is used to start a fire. Small batches of 100 grams of fresh flowers are placed inside hand woven bamboo baskets, then steamed for 4 to 5 minutes over the fire. The chrysanthemums naturally form into a \"cake\" after steaming. To finish, the tea cakes are baked for 4 to 6 hours to remove any remaining moisture. These pressed flowers remain vibrant yellow, like rays of the sun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo brew this tea you will break some pieces of the flower cake off and put them in a glass pitcher to add water. As soon as hot water hits them they tint the liquid a soft yellow. Then the flowers expand, and expand, opening to reveal their plush petals and golden pistils. The flowers fill the glass pitcher with a beautiful mess, like a drowned bouquet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir tea has the sweetest aroma, and its flowery citrus notes captivate us the way yuzu, valencia orange, or bergamot does. The powerful medicinal qualities of this tea are noticeable when drinking it. It is an excellent tea for warmer months, as it has a clearing effect that drains heat and stagnation from the body. It is so delicious, you will smile while it works its magic on you.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"40g cake","offer_id":48393682419992,"sku":"","price":95.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/cultivate-june-17-2025-tea-cake-1-v1-5872.jpg?v=1752428649"},{"product_id":"wild-white-2018-single-tree","title":"Wild White 2018 Single Tree","description":"\u003cp\u003eA true gift from nature, this is an extremely precious wild white tea, from the alpine forests of Zhenghe, Fujian. It comes to us from one of our well-respected tea foragers, Mr. Fan or Hunter who coincidentally discovered a mountain region with wild tea plants in his hometown of Zhenghe, Fujian when he was working in the Forestry Department for the local government, managing the population of wild boars that were wreaking havoc for local farmers. Zhenghe, Fujian is one of only two origins for an authentic white tea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis tea was foraged from one single centuries-old wild tea tree, standing at more than 12 feet high.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe centuries-old tea tree is wild and of the traditional Zhenghe Dabai (Big White) 政和大白 varietal, situated within thousands of acres of ecological ancient old growth forest more than 3600 feet above sea level. In these vast old growth forests, the wild tea trees compete with a diverse variety of trees seeking precious diffused sunlight; the roots extend deep, drawing nutrients from the ground and, thus, the tree grows slowly and the tea leaves accumulate rich nutrients and compounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe craftsmanship is authentic and traditional. Zhenghe white tea is processed by way of  阴干 shade drying, as opposed to the more common sun-dried or oven-baked white teas. The foraged tea leaves are spread on bamboo mats and naturally dried in the shade, without any exposure to sun or fans or mechanical roasting.\u003cbr\u003eThis is significant—the tea leaves are allowed to dry slowly and naturally, without any application of external heat. This translates into tea leaves that are still \"alive\" and still retain the maximum amount of live enzymes and nutrients. This centuries-old white tea craftsmanship is extremely laborious, time-consuming and requires a substantial amount of space.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAdding to the particulars of this tea production is the impermanent alpine microclimate in Zhenghe, Fujian. The weather shifts between thunderstorms during the night, drizzles and fog in the morning, and blue sky by mid-day. Surprisingly, this ever-changing weather is the ideal condition for crafting traditional white tea. Craftsman of Zhenghe white tea, with decades of experience, can instinctively predict the changes in weather, and optimally time each stage of the tea processing to the weather. Slowly and continuously over time, the fluctuations in temperature and humidity act to \"wring out\" the moisture in the fresh tea leaves. Having respect for nature, learning how to work with nature, and achieving harmony between heaven, earth and human, is the philosophy for ancient crafters of tea.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOur Zhenghe Wild White tea is one of the most intriguing we have tasted. The leaves are strikingly beautiful - enormously full and rustic. From such leaves and stems, I imagined the taste would mirror the form—rustic and earthy. Yet, it turned out to be the sweetest tea we have experienced. The sweetness is wonderfully pure, like tasting sugar cane, and, a surprising sweetness borne simply from leaves and stems. It also boasts a beautiful wood taste, like a fine, sweet wood incense.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39643131576425,"sku":"","price":60.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/wildwhitesingletree3.jpg?v=1784989807"},{"product_id":"true-cliff-shuixian-2007","title":"Sanyang Peak Shuixian 2017","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe magnificent Wuyi Mountains are home to some of the most treasured and highly sought after oolongs in China. An UNESCO World Heritage site, this region famously consists of 36 peaks, 72 caves and 99 cliffs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTea from this protected area is called yancha 岩茶, \"cliff or rock oolong.\" True yanchas are rare, as they come from the limited number of tea trees located within the Nature Reserve that are harvested according to ancestral rites.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis particularly special yancha is from Sanyang Peak, the highest peak within the Wuyi Mountain Nature Reserve. The shuixian trees here are considered to be old grove, and have been harvested and crafted by Uncle Huang, a generational tea maker with over 4 decades of experience making yancha.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen describing the best yanchas, the Chinese use the phrase 岩骨花香, which loosely translates to \"cliff bone, floral fragrance,\" meaning that the yancha has cliff and mineral notes as its skeleton, and a floral perfume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis yancha achieves exactly this arrangement of rock and flowers. The liquor moves gently downwards, across the palate, and its taste extends for a long time. In this downward motion, we taste so many different inflections of cliff and stone, and with this erosion comes a cascading bouquet of flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs it descends the aroma of this tea shifts with every inhalation: woody, musky, mineral, floral. It has a sweet, lingering aftertaste with notes of cocoa, tobacco, apricots and tree sap. Its complexity leaves a lasting impression, as it seems to reference the remarkable biodiversity of the place from which it came. This is a powerful tea, but one that leaves us feeling serene.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39712631783529,"sku":"","price":80.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/sanyang_peak_shuixian_2781a2ef-90b0-400a-962f-a6c3e89426a0.jpg?v=1782428362"},{"product_id":"yashixiang-duck-shit-2019","title":"Yashixiang \"Duck Shit\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eYashixiang, or \"Duck Shit,\" is a relatively recent Phoenix Oolong varietal. The mother tree, now 85 years old, is situated in the well-known Pingkangtou Village on Wudong Mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLegend has it that the name Yashixiang or \"Duck Shit\" came from this Village. The mother tree was planted in a tea garden where the soil was tinted yellow, dense with clay and minerals that made it resemble the colour of duck shit. Tea trees planted in this soil grew beautiful, dark green tea leaves, and villagers began to ask the tea farmer for the name of this striking varietal. Afraid that his tea plant would be stolen, the tea farmer responded, \"it's not good tea, it smells like duck shit.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea's detracting name succeeded in protecting the mother trees, but did not restrict Yashixiang's reputation as an exceptional and refined Phoenix Oolong. This one is made with leaves from an old grove of trees, crafted by tea master Ma Xiaohou, who has been working with the Yashixiang varietal since the '90's.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves have been gently roasted over charcoal for over 20 hours, adding great depth and texture to this already complex leaf. It takes great skill and practice, as there is a fine point to which this tea has to be bruised and roasted to express Yashixiang's full character without overpowering its nuances, and Ma Xiaohou has achieved this.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts slightly oily liquor is smooth and clear, coating the mouth and drawing saliva from under the tongue immediately. Its character is found more in the body of the tea than its fragrance. Fine tannins create delicate resistance on the palate, slowing the passing aromatics and giving the tea a soothing downward pull. We find notes of camphor, incense, lychee, and pungent flowers, however as a whole, it gives the sensation of tasting like \u003cem\u003ea bit of everything\u003c\/em\u003e ... perhaps it can only be said to taste like \"Duck Shit.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo fully experience this tea, we highly recommend using a high quality porcelain gaiwan for brewing. After each infusion, be sure to smell the inside of the lid of your gaiwan by breathing short and quick puffs of air in and out of your nose very close to the lid. Repeating this after each infusion, you will see that aroma changes dramatically with each puff of air in and out of your nose. The scent of Duck Shit takes us to many, very beautiful places.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39712635060329,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A2760.jpg?v=1731038182"},{"product_id":"2018-zi-ya-purple-bud","title":"2018 Zi Ya Purple Bud","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Zi Ya \"Purple Bud\" is a unique and distinctive pu'erh raw from one of our favorite tea craftsmen, Mr. Tang in Jinggu Yunnan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first time we acquired the Zi Ya Purple Bud Pu'erh raw was in 2020 - we intentionally aged the cakes for one full year before drinking it in the spring of 2021. We were struck by its beautiful and plump leaves with a dark blue sheen, and also the clarity and gentleness of the tea. It has distinct elegant floral notes, and slightly smoky.Late last year, we were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to acquire five precious cakes from the 2018 vintage year from Mr. Tang himself, from his own personal collection. His aged pu'erh cakes are rarely available as they are always snatched up by pu'erh connoisseurs and collectors as soon as they are release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI was astonished by my first experience with the 2018 vintage. The mouthfeel is amazingly silky smooth - I could have mistaken it for an old-grove oolong if I didn't know it was a pu'erh raw. It is exceptionally sweet - with no smokiness that I had experienced from the 2020 year. On the palate, it had distinct caramel, molasses and burnt sugar notes, followed by dark chocolate. When I smelled the lid of the gaiwan that I was using to brew it, it had notes of sweet dried prune.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI was amazed at how much the Zi Ya pu'erh raw has aged in 3 years! I had always known that Mr. Tang's pu'erhs age exceptionally well, and to expect a substantial change every three years, but the experience still blew me away.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39845346934889,"sku":"","price":40.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/IMG_2604-2.jpg?v=1643788084"},{"product_id":"2015-wild-old-grove-lapsang-souchong-unsmoked","title":"Wild Lapsang Souchong Unsmoked","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rarely available, eleven-years aged, unsmoked Lapsang Souchong from a grove of wild 100-years old tea trees in the historic Tongmuguan County of Fujian Province. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLapsang Souchong is the direct translation of the tea's Chinese name: 正山小种. The first two characters 正山 translate loosely into \"The mountain\" or \"the correct\/right mountain\", and 小种 translate into \"small leaf varietal\". Therefore, Lapsang Souchong essentially means \"black tea made from the small-leaf varietal tea trees originating from the mountain of Tongmuguan County\". Lapsang Souchong has two variations: smoked or unsmoked. Usually, in the West, only the smoked variation is available. However the unsmoked variation is more popular with Chinese tea connoisseurs. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLapsang Souchong is a historic tea - as the world's first black tea, it is the origin of all black teas. Legend has it that a tea farmer in Tongmuguan was in the process of making green tea, but was interrupted suddenly by intruding troops from the neighbouring village. When the tea farmer came back, the green tea had already oxidized into much darker leaves and had developed an unfamiliar smell. The tea farmer attempted to hide the unfamiliar aroma by smoking the tea leaves over pine wood. At the time, there were many English and Dutch traders in Tongmuguan trading tea, and they immediately fell in love with this new type of tea that was full-bodied, sweet and smoky. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe English loved Lapsang Souchong so much so that a Englishman named Robert Fortune stole 20,000 tea plants from Tongmuguan, and planted the tea trees in Darjeeling, India as Darjeeling is at same latitude as Tongmuguan. This is the beginning of Indian black teas. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTongmuguan is one of the most beautiful, pristine tea origins we have visited. A protected Nature's Reserve, it is two hours away from Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province by car. Only local villagers are allowed entry into Tongmuguan County - a checkpoint is in place at the beginning of the winding road leading into Tongmuguan, and no tourists are allowed inside the County.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Lapsang Souchong is from Hangdun, the most sought-after village in Tongmuguan County, and one of only 7 villages where authentic Lapsang Souchong originates from. Situated at 4000 ft above sea level, Hangdun is usually surrounded by clouds and fog. The drive up to Hangdun is astonishingly beautiful – a winding road takes you along magnificent cliffs marked with crystalline streams of water, where waterfalls cascade off of every peak.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCentury-old wild tea trees grow here, scattered amongst the gigantic bamboo forest. Their branches and trunks are covered with moss, indicating both their age and their vitality. Both stems and leaves were picked from them to make this tea. Similar to what we see in many white teas, these rustic stems make this tea suitable for aging, as the stems have more nutrients and enzymatic compounds in them that preserve the tea and develop character over time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a captivating and delicious black tea. Six-years of age has made it very smooth and settled, and we can better taste its subtleties compared to the stronger, more direct experience of a newer tea. On the palate, it is soft and refined: milky, floral qualities are underlaid with beautiful woody notes. We find hints of Chinese jujube dates, sandalwood, and orchids blended by age to the point where they are almost indiscernible.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39845346246761,"sku":"","price":55.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/IMG_2605-2.jpg?v=1643600127"},{"product_id":"yunnan-red-heicha","title":"Yunnan Red Heicha","description":"\u003cp\u003eHeicha is a fermented tea from the Hunan province in China. It is a lesser known tea, however its craftsmanship has a very rich tradition worth describing in detail. The preparation of Hei Cha dates back to the Tang Dynasty in the 9th century. Traditionally there are ten steps in crafting it: the tea is fermented, steamed, slowly roasted over charcoal, and then compressed into dense bricks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the wonder of Hei Cha, and why it is so highly regarded, is that, as the brick of tea ages, many little \"golden flowers\" form on it. These flowers are a probiotic called Eurotium cristatum. Over centuries of human interaction with them, these golden flowers have come to be understood as a very precious substance. Firstly, they contain enzymes that catalyze the breakdown of proteins in tea leaves, turning them into sugars, thus making the tea taste sweeter and more smooth. Secondly, the golden flowers convert the polyphenols in tea into beneficial and more available substances for the human body. Eurotium Cristatum is also found in thousand-year old reishi and cordyceps mushrooms, and has been the subject of medical research for a very long time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile its makers use very traditional craftsmanship and work in small batches, this Yunnan Red Hei Cha is an experimental tea. Normally Hei Cha would be prepared using tea from big-leaf trees high in the mist-covered mountains of the Hunan province. With this tea, the makers have used black tea from the Yunnan province instead. The black tea from Yunnan, harvested in 2018, is a blend of delicate bud-and-leaves from 300 years old arbor trees. When fermented as a Hei Cha, it is transformed into something a bit unbelievable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is as though this experiment has added an invisible milk to the Yunnan black. The enzymes from fermentation have produced an incredible softness, and a sweetness. In the mouth, the spaces in the structured tannins of the black tea have been filled with something dense and even. When the tea is first prepared it tastes like dulce de leche. After a few infusions the sweetness gives way to the taste of dried leaves. The auburn coloured liquor gradually intensifies with each infusion - never getting as dark as a fermented pu'erh, but still pointing towards the earth. For being so fascinating, it is a very comforting and grounding tea to drink.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39916523782249,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":39916523815017,"sku":"","price":60.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/IMG_4415_0603a363-bb86-4487-a855-6d43cd54c127.jpg?v=1646956312"},{"product_id":"wild-laoshan-white","title":"Wild Laoshan White","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Wild Laoshan White is a special \"Reserve\" release from the Tang family; only a few kilos were crafted in 2020, a small portion of which we are extremely grateful to have acquired.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Tang's family are generational tea farmers in Laoshan Mountain of Qingdao, Shandong. Shandong, of Northeastern China, is named after Mount Lao, a magnificent mountain range recognized by its striking, slim, elongated cliffs. The many small plots that make up Mr. Tang's tea farm are scattered along this coastline, at the foot of Mount Lao. Some are distributed right along the beaches, exposed to the salty wind that blows off of the water, while others are tucked slightly up into the forested hills, protected by the pine trees and the mountain behind them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLaoshan is a very unique tea producing area in China. It is as far North as a tea region can be, and at the highest latitude, before temperatures become too cold for tea trees to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe small farms in Laoshan have Mount Lao on one side, and are otherwise surrounded by ocean. The air here has very high humidity, and it sees longer winters of frost and snow than tea regions further South. Another special feature of Laoshan is that the water that irrigates the tea trees comes from natural springs that run through Mount Lao. This water is very pure and high in the minerals it collects from the cliffs of the mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea comes from a once deserted tea garden that the Tang family came across, tucked into the forested hills at the foot of Mount Lao. Here, the smell of the ocean gives way to dense red pines and cherry trees laced with honeysuckle vines. The Tang family recognized this special tea garden for its particular peace and tranquility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea trees here are around 30 years old, and were abandoned about a decade before they were rediscovered. Some of the tea trees stand at a towering 7 feet tall, which is highly unusual for the small-leaf varietal of tea plants indigenous to Laoshan. The Tang family wanted this deserted, self-sustaining tea garden to remain \"wild\" and so they harvest it with little intervention. The rotted pine needles and pine cones that fall around it are used as natural fertilizers, and the weeds are not removed. The tea leaves are foraged for a period of two weeks, between the end of April and the beginning of May. Only a mere 5 kilograms were crafted in 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is fascinating to taste a tea inspired by Fujian white teas, and yet inflected with the very particular characteristics of this terroir. Because it is uncommon to see traditional white tea craftsmanship in this region, we consider this tea experimental. The delicate and precise processing without the application of any external heat leaves this tea full of its essential energy.  It is thic,k yet crisp and refreshing and carries the rhythm of pine and cypress with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe liquor is a bazaar lime-water colour.  It has a lemony, electrolyte finish and lingering lichen-green notes.This dense, vibrant fluid tastes mossy and detailed, describing a miniature forest, or even a midsummer night's dream to us, within our mouths.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":39998600839273,"sku":"","price":45.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/wildlaoshanwhite.jpg?v=1784989766"},{"product_id":"daxueshan-wild-puerh-shoots","title":"Daxueshan Wild Pu'erh Shoots","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis wild pu'erh is made from 1000 year old tea trees that grow on Daxueshan, or Big Snow Mountain. Trees of this impressive age reach very high, and no longer grow many leaves. It is considered disrespectful to harvest the leaves of trees this old, as it may hinder them, so instead, this pu'erh is made from \"the shoot.\" These shoots are dense bundles of newly sprouting leaves, tightly nested within one another, such that they appear flanked, like armor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese trees are over 65 feet tall. In order for him and the local villagers to gather the shoots, they have to shimmy up them with their limbs wrapped around the trunk. To collect even a modest amount of shoots the pickers have to pack tents and living supplies in their backpacks and stay on the mountain for at least a night, as it can't be done in a single day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a long-standing tradition for Yunnan locals to harvest a small amount of fresh shoots from wild tea trees. The shoots would be dried under the sun, or pan-fried. These teas are never normally for sale on the market, as locals usually only make enough of it for their own consumption.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany years ago, Mr. Tang attended his brother's wedding on Daxueshan, in Fengqing, where he first encountered wild pu'erh shoot tea made by local villagers. He was so captivated by the unique smell of wild flowers present in it that, ever since, he would visit a few villages in Daxueshan in the spring, collect a small amount of shoots from the villagers, and bring them back to his tea farm where he would experiment withering them and roasting them over charcoal, as is the custom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Tang crafts this tea according to the methods that have been passed down through generations of the local people. The shoots are slightly bruised as they are picked from the tree, making the tea slightly fermented. It is dried directly in the sun on bamboo mats after harvesting. Mr. Tang gently agitates the shoots as they are spread out on the mats to enhance the expression of their compelling fragrance. To finish, the shoots are slowly roasted over low-temperature charcoal for at least 2 weeks, removing the \"coldness\" from these wild tea leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrized for its energetics, and for offering us such a direct experience of ancient pu'erh trees, Mr. Tang's Daxueshan also delivers a shocking amount of flavour. The dense, freshly harvested buds are bright green with a streak of purple running along one side. They float in the gaiwan like small boats, and smell as though they are carrying an import of tropical fruit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe liquor they brew is very clear, which can be deceiving, because its taste is so strong. Their liquor has a flavour like acacia honey and mango peel, finishing intensely sweet, like dissolved sugar and lychee. Its mouthfeel is dense, like electrolyte water. The potent energetics of this tea teaches us something about the way the ancient trees transmit their essence -- we taste their sap, and feel their enduring vitality.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":40375746855017,"sku":"","price":85.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":50461121511704,"sku":null,"price":170.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260714_Cultivate_0400_WEB.jpg?v=1784989141"},{"product_id":"jade-qilin","title":"Jade Qilin","description":"\u003cp\u003eJade Qilin is a very special True Cliff oolong from within the Wuyi Mountain Nature's Reserve in Northern Fujian.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe magnificent Wuyi Mountains, a protected Nature Reserve in Fujian, is home to some of the most treasured and highly sought after oolongs in China. An UNESCO World Heritage site, it famously consists of 36 peaks, 72 caves and 99 cliffs. This area is so treasured that each of its unique geological features has been depicted in writings and drawings for centuries. Tea from this area is called yancha 岩茶, \"cliff or rock oolong.\" True yanchas are rare, as they come from the limited number of tea trees located within the Nature Reserve that are harvested according to ancestral rites.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe varietal of this tea, Yu Qilin, is extremely rare amongst the already rare Wuyi cliff oolongs. One from within the Nature Reserve is near impossible to come by. With gratitude for the connections that allowed us to source this tea, it is truly a privilege to be able to share it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYu Qilin, or \"Jade Qilin,\" is the name of a unicorn-like chimerical creature from ancient Chinese mythology. It is one of five auspicious animals whose appearance, ancient people believed, brought good fortune. The Qilin is a symbol of kindness and harmony, and is often used to describe people with integrity and high moral standards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe can taste this tea with great curiosity as to why it would be named after the auspicious Qilin. Perhaps it is on account of the rarity of this varietal's appearance. It could have something to do with the fortifying and generous characteristics of the tea itself, as the liquor has a medicinal quality that seems to speak directly to the body and its energy. It could also be an acknowledgement of the profound integrity of its taste: the tea produces a smooth and descending liquor, with a flavour so fused it is impossible to pull apart into individual notes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhatever it may be, the mystical name certainly suits this tea, whose slightly opaque liquor tastes neither floral nor architectural as we would expect, but rather seems to suspend something unlikely and unearthly within it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":40294638551145,"sku":"","price":80.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":40294638583913,"sku":"","price":160.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/jade_qilin_9fbec44a-e7b5-4fe8-b728-d45daea23efd.jpg?v=1782428361"},{"product_id":"ancient-big-white","title":"Ancient Big White","description":"\u003cp\u003eAncient pu'erh tea trees are not uncommon in Yunnan, however we rarely come across any of the Jinggu Dabai, or \"Big White,\" varietal outside of Yangta Village. This rare varietal is native to Yangta and the trees have never spread far from where they originated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn account of its rarity, the price of fresh leaves from the ancient Jinggu Dabai tea trees has increased steadily in recent years. Despite their climbing market value, Mr. Tang insists on making a small amount of pu'erh from Jinggu Dabai every year, should he be fortunate enough to find fresh leaves on the ancient trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis rare pu'erh comes from a grove of 300 ancient Jinggu Big White tea trees near his property. The trees here are approximately 400 years old, and stand together in the only known grove of the ancient Big White varietal to exist! Their newly sprouted leaves are golden yellow, and their branches, covered in moss and lichen, are full of vitality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jinggu Dabai varietal is subdivided into 9 varieties -- the yellow buds are used to make Ancient Gold Needle, which we also carry, and the other 8 varieties are combined to craft this pu'erh. While blended, this pu'erh is still \"pure material,\" meaning there hasn't been any mixing with leaves from younger tea trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe effect that this tea has is unusual: it tastes delicate and refreshing, while delivering a powerful energetic effect. Its mouthfeel hints at it being more substantial than we would guess from its flavour, and we can sense its potency in its extended, mouthcoating aftertaste.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe soft, gold liquor is viscous and heavy, carrying with it a bright, beguiling taste reminiscent of lemon-yogurt. The activity of this sweet and complex ferment settles deeply in us, transmitting the strong energy of these enduring trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe would want this pu'erh on an intentional day. It asks for patience, and seems to slow us down, inviting a contemplative and open-minded state. After several infusions we find our thoughts moving in less familiar ways, which is something worth watching for.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":44133623267608,"sku":"","price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":44133623300376,"sku":"","price":130.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"200g cake","offer_id":44133623333144,"sku":"","price":450.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/615A6392.jpg?v=1670020547"},{"product_id":"ancient-gold-needle","title":"Ancient Gold Needle","description":"\u003cp\u003eAncient pu'erh tea trees are not uncommon in Yunnan, however we rarely come across any of the Jinggu Dabai, or \"Big White,\" varietal outside of Yangta Village. This rare varietal is native to Yangta and the trees have never spread far from where they originated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn account of its rarity, the price of fresh leaves from the ancient Jinggu Dabai tea trees has increased steadily in recent years. Despite their climbing market value, Mr. Tang insists on making a small amount of pu'erh from Jinggu Dabai every year, should he be fortunate enough to find fresh leaves on the ancient trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis rare and unusual pu'erh comes from a grove of 300 ancient Jinggu Big White tea trees near his property. The trees here are approximately 400 years old, and they stand together in the only known grove of the ancient Big White varietal to exist. Their newly sprouted leaves are golden yellow, and their branches, covered in moss and lichen, are full of vitality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Jinggu Dabai varietal is subdivided into 9 varieties -- the yellow buds are used to make this Ancient Gold Needle, and the other 8 varieties are combined in crafting the Ancient Big White, which we also carry. This pu'erh is \"pure material,\" meaning there hasn't been any mixing with leaves from younger tea trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMr. Tang's intention for Ancient Gold Needle is to craft a top-grade tea that exemplifies the finest characteristics of the rare Jinggu Dabai pu'erh trees. He understands that they express themselves best when handled according to uncompromising local, traditional methods, and has been meticulous in his craftsmanship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a pu'erh that will captivate you for many reasons. It is surprisingly delicate on the palate at first, with soft apricot notes and evaporating references to flowers. As its structure develops, a network of energy distributes quickly and evenly throughout the body. There is a dense, fabric-like quality to this pu'erh, and this tightly bound meshwork seems to gather us. As we spend more time with it, we start to feel more integrated, or even woven together.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":44134773489944,"sku":null,"price":70.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":44134773522712,"sku":null,"price":140.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"357g cake","offer_id":44134783123736,"sku":"","price":950.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/615A6583.jpg?v=1670020674"},{"product_id":"secret-realm-mijing","title":"Secret Realm \"Mijing\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe name of this tea translates to \"Secret realm\" or \"Secret, uncharted place.\" This name could apply to both the place this tea comes from and the tea itself: it is no longer possible to acquire the 2017 harvest of this pu'erh, and the following harvests are available in such low quantities, their cost is quite prohibitive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe acquired this tea from Ahang, who is of Dai ancestry and indigenous to the Lincang region of Yunnan. Ahang is one of the few people who could have shared this tea with us, as pu'erhs like this one are only directly accessible to the local indigenous people, and are rarely shared with those outside their communities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen we asked Ahang which village, exactly, this tea came from, he grinned and responded simply, \"Lincang.\" The Lincang area includes several prestigious and highly sought-after pu'erh producing villages, like Bingdao, Xigui, and Mangfei, and we admired that Ahang would not direct us towards the exact home of this \"Secret Realm\" amongst them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe told us that, a few years ago, he came across a dozen ancient tea trees, at least 500 years old, and that he immediately fell in love with them. They are towering tea trees - their huge canopies extended far from their trunks, and cast incredible shadows on the brush below them. They expressed such strength and intelligence, Ahang knew their leaves would yield incredible tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince this encounter the leaves from these dozen ancient tea trees have only been harvested once per year, during the first Spring harvest. Their pu'erh cake is what is known as \"pure material,\" meaning it is not, like most high-value pu'erhs, slightly blended with other, younger tea leaves to reduce the cost of each cake. Instead, this tea is entirely made up of ancient leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs you might imagine, this pu'erh has exceptional energy, complexity, and \"Qi.\" It will last for more than 20 infusions, and maintains a soft, weighted, medicinal quality that sinks deep into our person throughout. Initially, its taste references the wild jungles and mountains it comes from: the taproots of these ancient tea trees extend so deep into the earth, the minerals they pull up and deposit in their leaves produce a taste that is strong and wild -- like an entire forest and all of its seasons, bound together. It is a rare experience for most of us, to encounter this leaf-flavour. Later infusions are less intense, drawing out the sweetness of rock sugar, earth, and wild honey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are teas that support complex states, the handling of unanswerable questions, and that can meet us when we find ourselves in uncharted places of our own. This a tea of this nature -- it isn't for everyday, but when it's right, you'll be so grateful for its company there, in the unknown.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":44151153688856,"sku":null,"price":125.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":44151153721624,"sku":null,"price":250.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/615A9010.jpg?v=1670020320"},{"product_id":"2008-pu-erh-aged-orange-peel","title":"Pu’erh \u0026 Aged Orange Peel","description":"\u003cp\u003eWe do not have much of this very special Pu'erh Ripe from 2008, and are very happy to be able to share what we do. Our tea mentor in Beijing has sent us 7 cakes of it, enthusiastic about the results of this combination of pu'erh ripe and aged orange peel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea in these cakes is hand harvested 'one-bud-two-leaves' from Menghai, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. The leaves are combined with aged orange peel (Chen Pi) from red mandarin oranges grown in Xinhui, Guangdong, (the most well-known village for producing aged orange peel).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOrange peels are revered as both a medicine and a deeply satisfying flavour in China. They must be aged for at least six years before being used in tea; any younger and their moisture and sugar content will cause the tea cake to grow moldy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe orange peel in this tea, now 20 years old, is gently aromatic, and deeply ingrained in the tea it has been pressed with. The experience of drinking this pu'erh ripe is mellow and sweet, sustaining its balanced flavour through many infusions - an indication of its quality. Its liquor remains very red and has a clean, succinct aftertaste. This is the perfect digestif tea: it will soothe the stomach and aid digestion after what may have been a celebratory meal.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":44540236398872,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":44540236431640,"sku":"","price":148.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/products\/615A1684.jpg?v=1676421531"},{"product_id":"matcha-shoyo-no-mukashi","title":"Matcha \"Shoyo no Mukashi\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a deep matcha. It has a very satiating mouth feel that is lifted by its lean, precise flavour. We found this paradoxical sensation so captivating, the experience of this tea stayed with us long after it was finished.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt paints the palate with flower petals while pressing on the tongue to open space for itself.  The top notes are fruity and creamy, like lychee, balanced by gentle vegetal notes mid-palate. This matcha really takes the words out of our mouth, and would accompany a contemplative tea practice very beautifully.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIkkoen Chaho is a tiny tea shop founded in 1947 by Hiroshi Mitsuo in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Now it is run by the son of Hiroshi and his wife, Chie Mitsuo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are an anomaly in Cultivate's collection, mainly because they do not farm their own tea. Instead, they purchase high quality tencha from Uji, Kyoto that they use to mill their own matcha.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir shop is home to 3 traditional matcha mills that they use to make tencha from Uji into matcha. These machines have been used and maintained here since the shop opened in 1947. They are beautiful pieces of equipment, each housed in a wooden case and run by a steady conveyor belt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor how small their shop and production is, they are surprisingly well known in the matcha industry in Japan, and a name that many Sado teachers quietly and assuredly recommend. This is all to say that the matcha from Ikkoen Chaho is very precious; the 3 stone mills produce roughly 30 grams of matcha per hour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shop has no website, no online presence, only a single store in Nagoya. We are very proud to offer 3 ceremonial matcha from Ikkoen Chaho at Cultivate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"20g Tin","offer_id":45461069791512,"sku":"","price":95.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"40g Box","offer_id":50571387306264,"sku":null,"price":165.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A6851.jpg?v=1686269138"},{"product_id":"thirteen-years-cave-aged-liubao","title":"14 Years Cave-Aged Liubao","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is a very refined example of Liu Bao tea, made from the youngest first harvest leaves from Liu Bao, Wuzhou, Guangxi. The tea was crafted in the spring of 2010, and then aged underground in a cave for 10 years. We purchased it when it was released from the cave in 2020, and have been aging it ourselves since.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrewing it now, we are quite astounded by its quality. Its luminous, ruby red liquor darkens throughout infusions, becoming increasingly dense with colour and weight on the palate, but no less clear in taste or appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we would expect from a tea that spent so many years in a cave, we taste wet rocks and mineral pitch. It has a ferment flavour similar to pu'erh ripe, but feels less viscous and more airy. The taste of this cave aged Liu Bao is almost a perfect opposite of sweetness: its uplifting mineral notes and wet-earth flavour leaves us feeling clarified, and with re-calibrated senses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiu Bao has potent medicinal properties, and a noticeable effect on the spirit. It aids digestion, dispels dampness, and soothes the stomach.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":45510318129432,"sku":"","price":50.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":45510318162200,"sku":"","price":98.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"100g","offer_id":45510318194968,"sku":"","price":190.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A2058.jpg?v=1688058262"},{"product_id":"wuliangshan-single-groves-puerh-raw","title":"Wuliangshan Single Groves","description":"\u003cp\u003eFor the past few years Tang Wang has been looking for abandoned, ancient pu'erh tea trees in the mountains and jungles in Wuliangshan, near his tea farm in Jinggu, Yunnan. He has experimented with harvesting the leaves of a few of these trees -- most of them around 300 years old -- and making them into different pu'erh raws. Last year he released the first small batch of this pu'erh, made entirely from leaves he collected on his foraging trips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis pu'erh is particularly special as it comes from a single grove, and has been reserved for what Mr. Tang considers his personal collection. Mr. Tang foraged these leaves in 2021 and compressed them into individual-sized \"cookies.\" He has released a small amount of it to share with friends and communities who truly appreciate pu'erh raw, and we feel fortunate to be considered amongst those people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis pu'erh raw is perfumed and sweet smelling, with the focused characteristics we appreciate from a single grove. It is a pleasure to drink it and taste for its \"one-thingness,\" and its clarity. There is no funk or haze to this tea, rather, it feels a bit like rain water -- refreshing, resetting, enriched, and succinct.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":45778530992408,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":45778531025176,"sku":null,"price":125.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/wuliangshan_single_grove_226a7df6-17c9-4b23-833c-dfe6db3eee5d.jpg?v=1782428381"},{"product_id":"wild-purple-chrysanthemum","title":"Wild Purple Chrysanthemum","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese amazing purple chrysanthemums grow wild in the mountains around Qiandao Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The total harvest this year was 10 kg, and we are thrilled to have received a small, very precious, amount of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 4500 ft elevation, the climate in Hangzhou is quite cold, meaning there are few insects and pests. The delicate chrysanthemum flowers have taken advantage of these conditions, flourishing here without human intervention. All the farmers do to tend to them is manually pull out weeds around where they grow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach purple flower is harvested by hand in the second week of October. Afterwards, they are spread out on small bamboo mats in a mud-walled drying room. The flowers are not heated directly, so to dry them the craftsmen gather pine branches from the mountain, light them, and maintain a fire in the small mud house, drying them indirectly by the warm, pine scented air as it circulates through the room. Once finished in the mud house the flowers are carried down the mountain, where they are finished over charcoal at very low heat. This process requires a great deal of patience and skill to ensure that their delicate petals do not fall off.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese beautifully preserved, purple tinted flowers brew a crystal clear liquor, disguising the intense medicinal qualities they impart to the water. Their bright yellow pistils glow in the liquid, and the petals expand, turning translucent as they slowly come to fill the carafe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves on the flowers are much more robust this year, and the tea has been produced in much smaller quantities. This tells us the region saw harsher weather, and that we are meeting more resilient flowers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir liquor strikes the tongue with a fresh menthol sensation. It is herbaceous and active, like rosemary and thyme, and is balanced by a rich, broth-like mouthfeel. It has a lingering, lemony aftertaste with hints of pine mushroom and wet earth. You can enjoy this tea through many infusions, and it will become sweeter and sweeter as you do.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"15g","offer_id":47278792343832,"sku":"","price":30.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"30g","offer_id":50838991470872,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A7200.jpg?v=1701038462"},{"product_id":"oriental-beauty-gold-award","title":"Oriental Beauty Gold","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriental Beauty is a tea that occupies a category of its own. It is well known as a rare and precious tea, often commanding the highest prices of all teas from Taiwan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are a few reasons why Oriental Beauty carries both this value and reputation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirstly, it is entirely made from leaves that are bitten by a small fly. The bite from the fly is what begins this oolong's process of oxidation, allowing it to happen while the leaves are still on the tree! We can attribute Oriental Beauty's very unique and sweet characteristics to this little fly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecondly, like all highly prized tea, terroir is extremely important to Oriental Beauty. True Oriental Beauty will only come from one of two small villages, Beipu and E'mei. of Hsin Chu County. These two villages combined have an area of 90 km², (to put that in perspective, the city of Vancouver is 114 km²!)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, Oriental Beauty is extremely labour intensive to harvest and craft. The highest grades are made exclusively of the smallest and youngest one-bud-one-leaf. These  tender leaves are very hard to pick. In one full day of harvesting, a skilled tea picker will only collect between 75 and 100 grams of fresh leaves. Thus, it takes 8 to 10 skilled tea pickers an entire day to collect enough leaves to make 500 grams of Oriental Beauty. As you can quickly calculate, the labour costs for Oriental Beauty are amongst the highest of all teas in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this highest grade of Oriental Beauty we notice smaller, more condensed leaves. In the dried tea, we clearly see one tip and one bud. It is difficult to imagine that each leaf and bud was picked by hand, they are so tiny and delicate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe aroma of this tea has the same sweet, earthy bass layer as the Bronze, but with an extra-dimensional complex set of top notes, which caused us to describe it comparatively as \"more 3D.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea brews a champagne coloured liquor, much lighter than the Bronze tea. Its taste is bursting with life, like spring flowers and magnolia. It has a robust aquatic quality, like water lotus: a unique bouquet supported by the earthiness of the tea itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the first infusion the lid of the gaiwan smells like what we think angel wings might smell like, were you to bury your face in them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second infusion plunges us deeper into this tea's serene world of pond notes: we taste petals, moss, and wet stone. The soft mouthfeel invites pause, and we hold it on our palates for a moment before swallowing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe notice that, as we drink this Oriental Beauty, it opens the imagination. Whole images and scenarios come to us as we sip it, and our minds wander through them. We recall the truth in our initial impression of its taste: that it really is extra-dimensional.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter several infusions the wet leaves look entirely like an aquatic plant. They are a rich, uniform, oxidized red – waxy, winding, and wholly intact.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"4g","offer_id":47660808306968,"sku":null,"price":60.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false},{"title":"8g","offer_id":47660808339736,"sku":null,"price":120.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A3233.jpg?v=1707443126"},{"product_id":"oriental-beauty-bronze-award","title":"Oriental Beauty Silver","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriental Beauty is a tea that occupies a category of its own. It is well known as a rare and precious tea, often commanding the highest prices of all teas from Taiwan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are a few reasons why Oriental Beauty carries both this value and reputation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirstly, it is entirely made from leaves that are bitten by a small fly. The bite from the fly is what begins this oolong's process of oxidation, allowing it to happen while the leaves are still on the tree! We can attribute Oriental Beauty's very unique and sweet characteristics to this little fly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecondly, like all highly prized tea, terroir is extremely important to Oriental Beauty. True Oriental Beauty will only come from one of two small villages, Beipu and E'mei. of Hsin Chu County. These two villages combined have an area of 90 km², (to put that in perspective, the city of Vancouver is 114 km²!)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, Oriental Beauty is extremely labour intensive to harvest and craft. The highest grades are made exclusively of the smallest and youngest one-bud-one-leaf. These  tender leaves are very hard to pick. In one full day of harvesting, a skilled tea picker will only collect between 75 and 100 grams of fresh leaves. Thus, it takes 8 to 10 skilled tea pickers an entire day to collect enough leaves to make 500 grams of Oriental Beauty. As you can quickly calculate, the labour costs for Oriental Beauty are amongst the highest of all teas in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn my recent trip to Taiwan I was fortunate to source two grades of Oriental Beauty, crafted by a 76-years old tea master. One won the Gold Medal Award at the Annual Hsinchu Oriental Beauty Competition, and the other won the Silver Medal Award. These teas exemplify what makes Oriental Beauty so sought after and so highly regarded in the world of tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe immediately notice the gorgeous spaciousness of this dried tea: its delicate, variegated silver and dark-red leaves seem to hold themselves up. Their aroma is arresting, with layered notes of flowers, honey and sunbaked earth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first infusion brews an apricot coloured liquor. We encounter the sweet earthiness of this tea, with lilly and cacao notes flickering on top of it. The second infusion brings out its tobacco and incensed notes, as we find it increasing in complexity. The wet leaves that have now unfolded completely are a deep, uniform sandalwood colour. Their fullness and opacity is something very unique to behold: they look and even smell a bit like sweet wood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea can go on for many infusions without its character or colour waning. Subtle tannins reveal themselves as the intensity of its flavour subsides, creating an architecture that holds it on our palate a little longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter you've finished drinking the tea you must touch the leaves before discarding them. They feel unlike any other tea leaves – almost like a succulent, or arame seaweed – full of life.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"4g","offer_id":47660813484312,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false},{"title":"16g","offer_id":47690682237208,"sku":"","price":160.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A3552.jpg?v=1707840001"},{"product_id":"dinosaur-egg-oolong","title":"\"Dinosaur Egg\" Oolong","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince 2019, tea master Lin Zhenwen has made between 10 to12 Dinosaur Eggs each year, depending on how much fresh tea he can forage from his grove of semi wild Golden Cassia Oolong trees in Southern Fujian.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery stage of the process that results in this remarkable heritage tea, from harvesting the leaves to shaping it, to bundling it in canvas cloth, is done skillfully by hand. Its craftsmanship showcases both the beauty of the 60 year old semi-wild trees it comes from, and the endangered practice of handcrafting oolongs in the Anxi region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDinosaur Egg tea is so rare because it can only be made by the tea master Lin Zhenwen himself, and each step is extremely labour intensive. Aside from the skilful and repetitive rolling, kneading, pressing and rubbing done to gradually shape it into an egg, the charcoal roasting that finishes it is done in 6 rounds, each lasting over 20 hours. Roughly six pounds of fresh tea leaves will make one single one-pound Dinosaur Egg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tradition of making this egg shaped oolong started in the Qing Dynasty, but the craft has nearly disappeared over the past 30 years, as a younger generation who grew up with tea machinery no longer knows how to knead tea by hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea is crafted so that it could be aged for hundreds of years, but even in its youth its complexity is striking. Beneath its delicate mouthfeel is an immense depth of character. It is fruity and floral and, although its low notes haven't fully developed as they one day will, it delivers a powerful and saliva invoking \"taste of the grove.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDinosaur Egg offers us a warm and gentle experience of time travel, incensed by the woody notes of Golden Cassia oolong. This 2024 harvest brews a crystal clear, champagne coloured liquor that tastes light, but leaves a lasting impression in both our minds and our mouths.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is an excellent tea for aging, that you will enjoy checking on periodically as it matures. The longer it is aged, the smoother, sweeter and more complex it will get. It is known to have a noticeable transformation in its character every 5 years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":49121737015576,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A3633_1a1665c0-4442-41fe-bba6-fd82cc8b01bc.jpg?v=1726530158"},{"product_id":"oriental-beauty","title":"Oriental Beauty","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriental Beauty is a tea that occupies a category of its own. It is well known as a rare and precious tea, often commanding the highest prices of all teas from Taiwan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are a few reasons why Oriental Beauty carries both this value and reputation. Firstly, it is entirely made from leaves that are bitten by a small fly. The bite from the fly is what begins this oolong's process of oxidation, allowing it to happen while the leaves are still on the tree!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecondly, terroir is extremely important to Oriental Beauty. True Oriental Beauty will only come from one of two small villages, Beipu or E'mei, in Hsin Chu County. Combined, they have an area of 90 km², an extremely small footprint for producing a tea that is sought after around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLastly, Oriental Beauty is extremely labour intensive to harvest and craft. The highest grades are made exclusively of the smallest and youngest one-bud-one-leaf. These tender leaves are very hard to pick. In one full day of harvesting, a skilled tea picker will only collect up to 100 grams of fresh leaves. It takes 8 to 10 skilled tea pickers an entire day to collect enough leaves to make 500 grams of Oriental Beauty, meaning the labour costs for Oriental Beauty are amongst the highest of all traditional teas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Oriental Beauty from Beipu has everything we could want and expect from a tea of this quality: delicate auburn leaves that smell sweet and reanimate quickly in water; a silky, round mouthfeel with minty floral notes that activate the palate; and lingering tropical fruit notes that leave the taste of water lily in their wake. The total experience of this tea reminds us a bit of junmai sake, or even Monet's Water Lilies, as it resonates as an elegant ode to wateriness itself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":49133555089688,"sku":"","price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false},{"title":"50g","offer_id":49133555155224,"sku":"","price":150.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/615A2072_a0467f4e-e8ee-4c34-af90-c08e91035361.jpg?v=1726706352"},{"product_id":"autumn-tieguanyin","title":"Autumn Tieguanyin","description":"\u003cp\u003eTieguanyin: quite possibly the most famous oolong in the world, and yet, one that Cultivate has never carried. The reason for this is simply that, amidst such a saturated market, we have never found an example of this popular tea that is traditionally crafted, and that we absolutely love – that is, until now!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything happens in its own time, and we are at long last able to share with you an Autumn Tieguanyin we are thrilled by. It comes to us from Shimen Village, in Gande, Anxi at 3200 ft elevation; the most famous region for Tieguanyin in the world. It is crafted by Master Wu Xiaoquan, now in his late seventies, who has been crafting tea for over 5 decades, and whose family has lived in Shimen for generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis authentic Tieguanyin is from a very small batch that he specially crafted for Cultivate. The leaves are from Master Wu's personal tea garden, where the tea trees are roughly 20 years old, which is considered \"old grove\" in this region. They were harvested on October 18, 2024.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vast majority of modern Tieguanyin is produced from young tea trees and tastes much like a very floral green tea. We requested that Master Wu follow traditional methods of craftsmanship for this Tieguanyin, meaning the leaves would be allowed to oxidize for a longer period of time, and would see four rounds of \"bruising,\" before being slowly baked over charcoal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe quality of the tea that Master Wu has produced is truly amazing, so much so that we take no issue with having had to wait 10 years to acquire it. The leaves are a deep, mottled rust colour that glow as soon as they touch water. The liquor they brew is crystal clear and tinted a rich, golden hue. The tea has an elegant orchid fragrance held by the clean scent of charcoal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sensation of drinking this tea is so wild: it seems to open inside our mouths like an alien species of flower. We taste it in the middle of the tongue first, and then it blooms, touching every part of the palate. The striking clarity of the liquor foreshadows the clarity of its taste. None of its charcoal notes weigh it down, instead, it expands and expands –  as light as it is heavy, as forward as it is backward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe can't think of a tea we have tasted where the varietal, the terroir and the craftsmanship are so balanced we can not contemplate them as separate things when we taste it. For this Autumn Tieguanyin the sum is far greater than its parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExperiencing this tea has made it clear to us why Tieguanyin is one of the most prized and well known oolongs in the world. It has been a rewarding lesson in \"never say never\" for Cultivate that has left us smiling.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":49615658844440,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false},{"title":"8g Pack","offer_id":49683066355992,"sku":"","price":24.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/cultivate-tea-jan-14-web-v3-7597.jpg?v=1738012323"},{"product_id":"takahashi-s-oolong-koju","title":"Takahashi’s Oolong “Koju”","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis Koju Oolong is crafted by the Takahashi's, a father and son duo whose family has farmed tea for 3 generations. They started making sencha, as most tea farmers in Shizuoka do, but 20 years ago the eldest son took an interest in oxidized teas like oolongs. He experimented with various processes for crafting oxidized teas, and has come to produce some of the rarest oolongs in Japan. Koju is the name of a varietal discovered by Mr. Takahashi himself. It is a hybrid cultivar of Inzatsu 131 (an exotic varietal brought to Japan from Manipur, India a century ago) and the Japanese varietal, Yabukita. Mr. Takahashi is currently the only person cultivating Koju in Japan, as he believes it to be particularly well suited for crafting as oolong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter being harvested by hand, the Koju leaves wither in the sun for up to an hour. Then they are withered further, for around 10 hours, using a yōseiki (a withering and shaking machine). During this stage the tea leaves give off a wonderfully fragrant aroma. Next, the leaves are quickly pan-fried, just long enough for them to become slightly crisp. After they are wrapped in cloth and gently steamed, softening them again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is very exciting to taste this rare varietal crafted using the oxidization techniques that Mr. Takahashi has developed. It tastes strikingly floral, reminiscent of Taiwanese Oolongs, with saline and pungent white flower notes. This florality, combined with its hydrating mouthfeel, makes it feel somewhat like a bruised gyokuro. In the gaiwan you will see the reanimated Koju leaves: their robust veins, hand-cut shape, and lightly oxidized surface. It stands in a category of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":50853800411416,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":50853800444184,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20251117_Cultivate_0234_WEB.jpg?v=1763921853"},{"product_id":"takahashi-s-oolong-inzatsu-131","title":"Inzatsu 131 Oolong","description":"\u003cp\u003eInzatsu 131 Oolong is crafted by the Takahashi's, a father and son duo whose family has farmed tea for 3 generations. They started making sencha, as most tea farmers in Shizuoka do, but about 20 years ago the eldest son took an interest in oxidized teas like oolongs. He experimented with various processes for crafting oxidized teas, and has come to produce some of the rarest oolongs in Japan. Inzatsu 131 is the name of an exotic varietal that was brought to Japan from Manipur, India a century ago. Mr. Takahashi is currently the only person still cultivating it in Japan, as he believes it to be particularly well suited for oxidization.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter being harvested by hand, the tea leaves are withered in the sun for up to an hour. Then they are withered further, for around 10 hours, using a yōseiki (a withering and shaking machine). During this stage the tea leaves give off a wonderfully fragrant aroma. Next, the leaves are quickly pan-fried, just long enough for them to become slightly crisp. After they are wrapped in cloth and gently steamed, softening them again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis tea is very significant to us as it is the only whole leaf, hand picked, and oxidized tea that we have ever tried from Japan. It is beautiful to taste this rare varietal crafted with the techniques that Mr. Takahashi has patiently perfected. This is the furthest oxidized tea he makes, but it is still roasted relatively lightly and with care not to overtake the nuances of the varietal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaves brew a golden liquor, opening quickly to impart a full flavour. This is perhaps as close as one gets to a Cliff Oolong from Japan: we taste orchids, rain water and rock face in it, rinsing our senses. It has a cleansing energy and, as we have come to understand about several teas from the Takahashi's, a profile that lands delicately between rustic and refined.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":50853800837400,"sku":null,"price":65.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":50853800870168,"sku":null,"price":130.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20251117_Cultivate_0444_WEB.jpg?v=1764292894"},{"product_id":"wild-ancient-white","title":"Ancient Wild White","description":"\u003cp\u003eMade from wild foraged pu'erh leaves, Mr. Tang crafted this tea for the first time in 2023, creating something we rarely see done with the leaves of ancient pu'erh trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese pu'erh trees were planted by the ancestors of local indigenous tribes over a thousand years ago, in a steep jungle terrain remote from any villages. Unlike cultivated tea trees, wild trees only sprout once each spring, making their single bursts of life particularly valued.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaves are gathered at the beginning of spring, then processed very carefully to preserve as much of their enzymes and vitality as possible. To do this, Mr. Tang spreads them out on bamboo mats to wither, with rounds of gentle piling that initiate a subtle micro-fermentation. They dry naturally under the cool alpine sun and the dried leaves are stored in large clay jars for one month to deepen their aroma and taste. Then they are roasted over a gentle flame, using as little heat as possible, before being steam-pressed into small tea cakes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bright green, paper thin tea cakes look as precious and refined as this tea truly is. The leaves revitalize instantly in the gaiwan, appearing as though they were picked yesterday. They smell tropical, like dehydrated pineapple and coconut nectar, and glow with colour. Tropical notes appear on the palate as well: we taste fresh longan and fruit peel, amidst a bouquet of roses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForaged in such an extreme landscape, this tea bears the markers of its wilderness. Mr. Tang has managed to preserve its wildness, something no cultivation could ever imitate, while producing one of the most elegant teas we carry. Its energetics feel both grounding and expansive, offering comfort and clarity in equal measure. This tea will last for around ten infusions, with all of its sweetness and unmediated presence intact.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":50853852741912,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true},{"title":"50g","offer_id":50853852774680,"sku":null,"price":150.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20251111_Cultivate_0028_WEB.jpg?v=1763226162"},{"product_id":"enshi-yulu-jade-dew","title":"Enshi Yulu \"Jade Dew\"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnshi\u003c\/em\u003e is the name of an ethnic town in Hubei Province of China, and \u003cem\u003eYulu\u003c\/em\u003e translates to \"Jade Dew.\" This tea, named for its place of origin and its poetic qualities, is the only surviving traditional steam-processed tea in China. Its extreme rarity nowadays is largely on account of it being one of the most time consuming and labor intensive green teas in history to craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe effort it takes to make Enshi Yulu is not without significant reward. Performing the \"kill-green\" by way of instantaneous steam preserves more chlorophyll, amino acids, and soluble sugars in the tea leaves, resulting in a tea with highly nutritive properties, and a prominent, fresh sweetness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe master craftsman must rise every day at 5 in the morning while this tea is being made. The leaves undergo steam kill-green and initial firing in the early hours, then they are piled onto long, rectangular cement roasting furnaces. While someone tends the wood fire and monitors its temperature, two other people work together, pushing and rolling the tea mass, gradually drying and straightening the leaves. When dryness reaches roughly 65% the leaves are spread out to cool, then repeatedly worked over with hand motions of rubbing, gathering, lifting, and pressing. Throughout this process the tea never leaves the hands of the craftsmen. For about an hour and a half it is continually moved, until it gradually takes its final form; the fine, tightly bound, dark green, pine-needle-like leaves we call \"Yulu.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach experienced tea master is able to produce just over 3kg of this tea by hand. Because of the very low yield, the vast majority of Yulu we find today comes from fully automated production lines. Completely handcrafted Enshi Yulu is extremely precious.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe greatest characteristic of Yulu's taste is its freshness. The dried leaves smell warm and deep in the gaiwan, but as soon as water hits them they transform into bright, vibrant leaves that give off a powerful \"green\" scent, as though they are still on the tree. Brewed gung-fu style the tea transforms quite noticeably through infusions, somewhat like a gyukuro, but without the broth-like density and strong umami notes. Yulu's qualities are much more light and airy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first infusion opens with a soft, nutritive taste that sweetens as it hits the back of the palate. The second infusion is smoother, and even sweeter, like sugar crystals. The soft mouthfeel and uplifting green notes are perfectly balanced, and the leaves continue to open and brighten through infusions. Yulu gets prettier the more time you spend with it. It will stay fresh and vibrant through 4 infusions, before beginning to gently fade.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":52142401978648,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260602_Cultivate_0478_WEB.jpg?v=1781105381"},{"product_id":"biluochun-silver-mist","title":"Biluochun \"Silver Mist\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eBiluochun is one of the most coveted and ethereal traditional teas we are aware of. Authentic Biluochun must come from Lake Tai of Suzhou, a picturesque city laced with canals and ancient imperial gardens close to Shanghai. Because of this tea's notoriety, other green tea regions will produce a \"Biluochun,\" but it won't be considered authentic unless it comes specifically from Dongting Mountain, east or west of Lake Tai.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is not arbitrary traditional nomenclature. Biluochun is especially expressive of its terroir, and the terroir on Dongting is very unique. The valley is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the tea trees are interplanted amongst a variety of fruit trees. Only the Biluochun trees here, which grow scattered throughout orchards, will produce the floral-fruit aromatics this tea is famous for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese heirloom, small-leaf varietal Biluochun trees are roughly 35 years old and grow with minimal intervention, apart from some grass clearing and tidying. They are nestled between rows of loquat trees on the stone slopes of the mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe preciousness of Biluochun begins with the picking, and the picking standard. As soon as the tea trees sprout several elderly tea pickers will visit them. They venture out very early in the morning to pluck the single buds or just-unfurling one-bud-one-leaf sets by hand. By noon, when they stop picking, they will have harvested less than 1000 grams. Then these tender leaves undergo an afternoon of hand sorting, keeping only 0.6-0.7 inches standard buds and leaves, which tends to be roughly one-third of what was picked that morning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea is crafted by the Shi Family, who are native to Dongting, and who have been making Biluochun for 3 generations. The first generation of the Shi family, Master Shi Nianxiong, was awarded the title of \"Tea Roasting Master\" for the region and the family has upheld this legacy. They use several different kinds of local charcoal to roast this tea, including bamboo, redwood, and fruit wood. The kill-green and frying are done in a single iron wok, then the tea leaves are hand rolled with a variety of techniques for about 30 minutes. Afterwards the tea is placed on white paper to cool, then slowly roasted over charcoal fire. Finally, it is rested in an ash jar to remove any remaining astringency.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a warm gaiwan the tiny leaves smell as soft and downy as it looks. After one infusion they look like a patch of lichen, having turned a glowing, limey green. They brew a crystal clear, opalescent liquor that looks dense and shimmery. This tea is not understood by many, as its impact is not made by flavour as much as it is through structure and wavelength.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tea liquor is smooth, its body is strong, and its fragrance lingers at the bottom of the cup. This is what a cup of fine traditional Biluochun should be like. Biluochun is known for having a \"spine\" because it has unusually strong architecture for such a delicate green tea. But as quickly as this structure appears, it vanishes, making it easy to miss. For this reason Biluochun is aligned with fleeting transitional seasons, and behaves much like the mist it is named for. It's impressively elusive for how undeniably present it is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":52142479114520,"sku":null,"price":48.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260602_Cultivate_0289_WEB.jpg?v=1781106275"},{"product_id":"duyun-maojian-spring-tip","title":"Duyun Maojian \"Spring Tip\"","description":"\u003cp\u003eDuyun is the name of a small mountainous village in remote Guizhou Province, southwest of China. Tuanshan Mountains, one hour from Duyun, sits among high mountain gorges interspersed with gentle slopes and hills that are covered by clouds year-round. It is one of the few remaining places in the region that maintains indigenous, heirloom varietal tea trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese trees are offsprings of wild ancient tea trees. Some have grown to be a century old. They are protected in groves that grow a considerable distance from the village, but require hours of hiking on mountain trails to reach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn late April, after the garden teas have all finished, the wild trees are harvested. The villagers who venture to collect their leaves follow a one-bud-one-leaf and one-bud-two-leaf standard. The leaves are brought back to the village where they are crafted into Biluochun by hand. After roasting, the tea is sealed in cold storage for roughly two weeks, allowing any remaining astringency to fade and its aroma to settle and develop more complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn old Guizhou saying compares drinking Biluochun to drinking chicken broth. This is not on behalf of its taste, as this tea is still quite sweet and fruity, but because of its powerful mouthfeel and medicinal nature. On account of the ancient trees used to make it, this is a particularly rooted spring green tea, and a delicate trip into the deep energetics of old grove tea trees. It is not as cooling or upwardly stimulating as other fresh green teas, so we consider it unusually grounding and supportive to the body for a green tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dark, fine spindles smell sweet and caramelized in the warm gaiwan. It tastes nutritive, with persistent mineral notes, accumulating weight in the mouthfeel as infusions progress, then finishing with a soft, lingering licorice taste. It feels like a pu'erh without its ferment, and a green tea without its youthful reverberation. An excellent choice for support staying grounded and connected through transitional seasons.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":52142480425240,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260602_Cultivate_0666_WEB.jpg?v=1781106527"},{"product_id":"snow-orchid","title":"Snow Orchid","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese tea buds are famous for sprouting right at the moment winter begins its shift to spring. For this reason, they are said to grow \"as fiercely as a tiger,\" and are even referred to as \"tea tigers\" among growers. This tea is of the Honey Orchid varietal, but because it has the intense fragrance of a winter harvest, combined with the mellow, rich undertone of spring tea, it is called \"Snow Orchid.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese transitional harvests do not happen every year. The prerequisite for high-quality Snow Orchid is that the winter must be cold enough or dry enough for the tea trees to enter full dormancy. Once they receive the signal of spring's rising earth energy, the winter buds, having accumulated nutrients, sprout rapidly. The buds are harvested right at the moment this happens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSnow Orchid teas will only turn out balanced if they have come from high mountains; Low mountain versions are fragrant, but thin, and have very high caffeine content. This one comes from Baishuihu village, on the southern foothills of Wudong and the main peak of Phoenix Mountain, at an elevation of 2500ft. It is the recognized birthplace of the Honey Orchid varietal, and continues to produce the finest Honey Orchid oolongs in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBaishuihu village is just off the main road that leads to Wudong's summit; the path into the village remains a rugged trail, and the remote ecological environment is excellent for tea trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe south-facing foothills of Wudong are considered the finest tea-growing terrain outside the main peak. They are shrouded in fog, with dense vegetation. The temperature variation and diffused light here are key factors in producing a successful Snow Orchid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven in perfect terrain, Baishuihu Snow Orchid is not available every year, as it depends entirely on the weather. At the end of 2025, the high Phoenix mountains were extremely cold and dry. At the beginning of spring there was a great deal of fog, so temperatures warmed quickly without a cold snap. This fleeting stretch of weather provided excellent conditions for early spring varietals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Snow Orchid was picked in early March, slow-roasted twice over gentle charcoal fire, and finished by early April. After resting for a month its fragrance is crisp and complex, its honey notes are prominent, and it actively draws saliva from under the tongue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis seasonal phenomenon grants us a delicate experience of the Honey Orchid varietal. It is more austere and less weighty than traditional winter or spring harvests, and is fascinatingly warming and refreshing, at once. This is exactly what we would want a tea to be during transit, or through fluctuating conditions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cultivate Tea","offers":[{"title":"25g","offer_id":52142481703192,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/5737\/8153\/files\/20260602_Cultivate_0834_WEB.jpg?v=1781106643"}],"url":"https:\/\/cultivatetea.com\/collections\/rare.oembed?page=2","provider":"Cultivate Tea","version":"1.0","type":"link"}