A rare and extremely fragrant oolong tea from the small village of Zhang Ping—described as having “nine mountains, half water and half fields,” in Fujian province. Zhang Ping Shui Xian tea was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2022 due to unique and exquisite traditional tea-making process, in which tea leaves are hand-pressed into a unique “fluffy pillow” shape using a wooden mold and wood mallet.
This cultivar of tea undergoes a roasting process to achieve a complex, flavorful, and layered tea with a strong floral note of honey and Narcissus flower, also known as Water Sprite. ZPSX is considered a naturally “sweet” tea and is sometimes described as “creamy.” It is grown in the expansive Wu Yi Mountains at an elevation of 800 meters, and hand-picked from mature tea trees. Only 2 or 3 fresh tea leaves are carefully plucked from each bud, then "tanned” under the sun for 10-30 minutes, followed by a drying process of 30-60 minutes. The leaves are then shaken and kneaded by hand and then sorted.
Each pillow has upwards of 20 steeps of tea and has an aromatic and smooth taste (tea pillow is 10g and can also be broken into two smaller pieces if making less tea). It has a lower caffeine level, about half of a cup of coffee, which make it a great choice for drinking late into the day.
Packaged in sealed gold foil packets.
Instructions:
Note: You can repeat the above steps up to 20 infusions and steep many cups of tea from one tea pillow.
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