Flavor Profile: ripe pear, honeyed citrus, muscatel grape, velvety
Production Area: Mộc Châu, Sơn La, Việt Nam
Harvest: November 2024
Introducing the Champagne Oolong Autumn Harvest, a different expression of one of our bestselling teas that’s typically produced in the summer. This limited, experimental autumn batch was made possible by an unusually long stretch of warm weather in Mộc Châu. The extended warmth allowed tea leafhoppers—the tiny insects responsible for the tea’s signature aroma—to remain active much later in the season, creating an entirely new opportunity for production. A tea that’s a testament to the beauty of nature’s unpredictability and the producer’s skill in adapting to it.
While this bug-bitten oolong retains the familiar muscatel, floral, and fruity notes that it’s beloved for, the lighter oxidation on this tea brings out new layers. In our tea cups, we pick up hints of ripe pear and citrus honey that set it apart from the ripe stonefruit characteristics of the summer harvests.
About bug-bitten teas
Bug-bitten teas carry a distinct flavor and aroma that is partly attributed to the tea leafhopper, aka the Jacobiasca formosana that particularly thrive during the warmer months. After the leafhopper bites the tea plant, the leaves produce a hormone as a defense mechanism. During the oxidation process in production, the high levels of these hormone in the tea leaves transform to deep floral and fruity characteristics that we can immediately pick up in our cups.
Available in 1, 2, and 4 ounce bags.
How to Prepare
Amount of Tea: 3 g / 2 tsp
Volume of Water: 118 ml / 4 oz
Water Temperature: 205°F / 90°C
Brewing Time: 40 secs