Tongmuguan Century-old Tree Black Tea

What's so special about this tea?

This century-old bush black tea from Tongmuguan (Bainian Laocong, 百年老枞) is made from the native Quntizhong cultivar, locally known as Cai Cha. Over a century old, these wild tea trees grow naturally in the forest within the Tongmuguan nature reserve, in the Miaowan village area at around 1,000m elevation. They were hand-picked in May 2025.

Processed as an unsmoked Zhengshan Xiaozhong (Lapsang Souchong), this tea omits the pine smoke to express the distinctive Congwei (枞味) of the old bush, a character shaped by tree age and the surrounding ecosystem in a dense forest canopy where moss and lichen thickly cover the trunks and lower branches.

Capturing this character requires a restrained approach to processing. This batch was crafted by a tea master who has dedicated his life to working with these old bushes. His focus goes beyond aroma and taste, instead rooted in a deep understanding of tea as a continuous experience, from the moment it enters the mouth to its final impression.

In the cup, it yields a beautiful, luminous orange-gold amber liquor. The aroma opens with tea bark, forest floor and herbal notes, with a nuance of steamed lotus leaf followed by a subtle wild floral lift. On the palate, it unfolds with dry wood, cacao husk and moss, underpinned by a resinous sweetness. The tea is well-structured and full-bodied, with a dense texture, giving a grounded and settled impression.

As the session progresses, moss and forest floor come forward as the dominant notes, followed by resinous sweetness and a fruity note reminiscent of confit prune.

The liquor is smooth and clean, soft going down — finishing with an aromatic echo that rises back through the throat, lingering well after the cup, and leaving a comfort feeling.