Gui Fei Competition Oolong (Silver Grade 2021)

This Gui Fei Competition Oolong is a very fine ‘Silver Grade’ oolong from the 2021 competition held by the Lugu Dong Ding Tea Production Cooperative. Grown in Shan Lin Xi, the hand picked Qing Xin cultivar leaves are carefully crafted to produce a delicate liquor with floral honey notes.

Compared to our ‘Fine Grade’ Gui Fei, this is a higher ‘Silver Grade’ award. It is made from Qing Xin cultivar leaves that are grown at an altitude of 1,100 on the slopes of Da Lun Shan (大崙山) in the fantastic Shan Lin Xi tea growing area.

Please note that the weight of the tea in tins and boxes is half the weight compared to the Fine Grade Gui Fei from our shop!

We supply this tea decanted in our usual 10g and 50g kraft zip seal pouches for convenience and sampling.

You can also purchase this tea in original packaging with competition seals:
– 150g sealed containers (tin containing 150g of tea);
– 300g sealed boxes (containing 2 x 150g tin containers).

The boxes come with original seals from the competition that authenticate this product and the tins are stamped accordingly. These represent overall better value but also make for outstanding and very exclusive gifts.

Brewing guide: 2.5g in 250ml water at 90°C for 3-4 mins

£4.60£85.00

(10-50-150-300g)

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Origin:Shan Lin Xi, Nantou County, Taiwan
Elevation:1,100m
Cultivar:Qing Xin 'Green Heart' (青心)
Harvest time:Summer 2021
Sourcing:From the farmer via Taiwanese Tea Master

Description

Gui Fei Competition ‘Silver Grade’ Oolong (貴妃烏龍茶) is a top grade beauty oolong from Da Lun Shan (大崙山) in the famous Shan Lin Xi (杉林溪) tea growing area of Nantou Province in Taiwan. Made from hand picked leaves of the Qing Xin ‘Green Heart’ (青心) cultivar plants, this tea has been specifically selected for a pronounced and distinctive ‘bug-bitten’ mi xian beauty flavour. It has wonderful, delicate notes of floral honey with a lasting sweet aftertaste. This 2021 batch was awarded a ‘Silver Grade’ status at the Summer 2021 Competition held by the Lugu Dong Ding Tea Production Cooperative.

This is just one of the Taiwanese Competition Grade Oolong teas that we currently have available in our shop.

This particular Competition-grade Gui Fei was grown on the slopes of Da Lun Shan in the Shan Lin Xi tea growing area at an altitude of around 1,110 metres. Shan Lin Xi (杉林溪) is an exceptional terroir located high in the mountains of Nantou Province. Although Alishan as a terroir may be more famous, it is without doubt that Shan Lin Xi produces high mountain (Gao Shan) oolong teas that are also considered to amongst the best from Taiwan. Shan Lin Xi can be literally translated as Pine Forest Stream from Chinese. However it is also commonly known as Sun Link Sea, an English phonetic approximation of the Chinese Shan Lin Xi, a process referred to as phono-semantic matching in linguistics. So both Sun Link Sea Oolong and Shan Lin Xi Oolong refer to teas from the same terroir. The gardens of Sun Link Sea terroir range in altitude between approximately 1,000 and 2,000 metres. The picturesque mountainous landscape is also home to Shanlinxi Forest Recreation Area, a popular destination for nature hiking that is known for its giant forest trees and waterfalls.

We were able to acquire a small amount of this Gui Fei Competition ‘Silver Grade’ Oolong with the help of a tea master in Taiwan. Every year in Taiwan, local competitions are held to determine the best teas of that season. This particular tea is from summer 2021 crops and was entered into a competition that took place in summer of 2021. The competition is held only once a year by the Lugu Dong Ding Tea Production Cooperative (凍頂生產合作社). This is a ‘Silver Grade’ tea, which means that it was one of the higher awarded teas of the competition of that year.

This Gui Fei Competition Silver Grade Oolong has dark leaves that have a light mi xian aroma of red fruits and honey typical of oriental beauty style of teas. The liquor produced has an amber colour and is very aromatic, with a distinct floral honey aroma. The flavours produced are more delicate and refined when compared to the ‘Fine Grade’ Gui Fei. It produces a liquor with a golden flavour that is gently floral, with sweet honey and fruit notes. It is gentle and soft, but nevertheless complex. The aftertaste is long lasting and sweet, as expected of a top grade Gui Fei Oolong.

It is best brewed at 90°C for 3 minutes according to your taste and should be brewed multiple times, increasing steeping time with each brew if desired. For best results, we recommend good quality filtered water and gongfu brewing method.