Ms. Qiong's Heritage Red

Heritage Red is a very special tea for Ms. Qiong. She crafts it every year as a tribute to her late father, inspired by memories she has of watching him make tea when she was young. It is made from the leaves of a small plot of tea trees he planted on their family property in Xiufeng Village in the 1970's.

The trees are a rare heirloom varietal, indigenous to the region, which were largely cut down in the 1980's in favour of higher yield varietals with uniform leaves. These trees are farmed regeneratively by Ms. Qiong, as part of her greater practice of rebalancing and listening to the land.

Every Spring she harvests the leaves during the daytime and crafts the tea by hand at night. It is extremely labour intensive, as she performs every step on her own. Working this way, and following traditional methods, Ms. Qiong produces a very small amount of tea each year. This practice is truly a labour of love.

This gentle black tea is perfect for warmer seasons. Its sweet, floral notes echo all the beautiful blooms we see around us in the spring: cherry blossoms, magnolias, plum blossoms, lilacs... You'll also find notes of vanilla, toasted sesame, and the aromatics of honey.

We also taste tea very specifically here, and notice that there is something especially unmediated about all of Ms. Qiong's teas. With the holistic support Ms. Qiong provides her whole garden, and her indirect approach to caring for the tea trees themselves, the tea expresses itself very clearly. Tasting for this philosophy of gardening adds an extra dimension to the enjoyment of Heritage Red.