Description:

This is the one tea that depends on insect damage: tiny leafhoppers feed on the young leaf, the plant releases defence compounds, and those compounds become the honey and muscat aroma in the cup. It also means no pesticide can be used and no two harvests are quite alike. Oxidation runs high, so the liquor is amber-red and the body sits closer to a Darjeeling second flush than to a green oolong, with ripe peach, honey and a faint spice. Ninety degrees and short steeps; it is sweet enough that sugar would be an insult.