Dan Cong Lei Kou Chai (\u5355\u679e\u96f7\u6263\u67f4), also known as Thunder Struck Oolong, comes from a fully certified organic tea garden of Master Huang. It is hand picked from the local Lei Kou Chai cultivar trees that are about 15 years old and are grown under perfect organic conditions near Gaoyuan Village at an altitude of approximately 600 metres. This tea produces a liquor with a very strong mouthfeel, yet it is quite delicate with refined balanced notes and an overall zesty citrus profile. This current batch was harvested and processed in April-May 2021.<\/p>\n
You may be interested in our other Dan Cong teas from Master Huang<\/a>, which are available in our usual packaging or in two tea flight boxes<\/a> that contain 6 different teas each.<\/p>\n The Lei Kou Chai name comes from the cultivar bearing the same name. Around 80 tears ago, the mother tree of these plants was struck by lightning and set on fire. The mother tree was almost completely destroyed by the fire and later died but not before the farmers rescued some cuttings from the dying tree. The descendant trees were named Lei Kou Chai, meaning old wood struck by thunder. As with so many other Dan Cong cultivars, or varietals, the original mother bushes are descended from the ubiquitous Shui Xian (\u6c34\u4ed9) cultivar trees. The farmers have then taken cuttings from these trees to preserve the unique nature of the mother bushes in the descendent trees. This has allowed careful selection process to occur over time, which allowed for the desired plant’s features to pass to the newly planted trees. Lei Kou Chai cultivar plants are quite uncommon, so the tea made from these plants is quite rare and highly regarded for its quality and complexity.<\/p>\n The leaves of this Organic Lei Kou Chai Oolong are dark with some green colour, indicating lower degree of oxidation and mostly consisting of smaller younger leaf. It produces a zesty profile with a powerful mouthfeel. The flavours however are soft and nicely balanced. It has mineral, baked, floral and fruity notes that are light and not overpowering. The charismatic flavours translate to a very powerful and persisting aftertaste that is fruity and zesty, reminiscent of orange and lime pith. This tea delivers a very powerful feel, yet with delicate Dan Cong flavours.<\/p>\n Brew western style, at 90\u00b0C for 3 minutes 3+ times. For best results we highly recommend gongfu<\/em> style brewing. For gongfu<\/em>, we recommend using traditional glass or ceramic teaware or a gaiwan. Or you can use your favourite yixing or chaozhou tea pot that already performs well with Dan Cong teas. Make sure to preheat all teaware thoroughly. Use water brought to 100\u00b0C and a very high tea to water ratio of 1g per 10ml. We find anywhere between 7g (more conventional gongfu<\/em>) and 10g (more local chaozhou gongfu<\/em> style) per 100ml to be a good measure, depending on your taste. As an alternative visual guide, your brewing vessel should be about 75% full with leaves. Start with 10 second infusions for the first 4 infusions. Then start slowly increasing the infusion time after that. You can adjust the quantity of leaf and infusion time to your taste, however the bittersweet complexity that comes through when using the traditional method is very much a desired feature in Chaozhou.<\/p>\n Location of the organic tea garden of Master Huang:<\/p>\n