Properties
| Type | Oolong |
| Chinese | 大水坑老枞 |
| Origin | Da Shui Keng, Wuyishan |
| Harvest | Spring |
| Year | 2024 |
| Pinyin | dà shuǐ kēng lǎo cōng |
Da Shui Keng Lao Cong
大水坑老枞
Da Shui Keng is a village a few miles to the south east of the Zhengyan gardens, across the main river in Wuyishan and at an elevation giving a good view: you can see some famous mountains and even see my mom’s tea shop.
My sister’s godmother’s family is from this area and so this is her personal garden. In some parts of the garden you can’t even tell there are tea trees. The trees are spaced widely and the grasses, flowers, and other “weeds” are thick. I asked about this, and she said she is proud to have such a garden “overrun by weeds”, since she strives to make high quality tea, not high quantity tea, and believes that the biodiversity improves the taste and energy.
This area is known for its tall trees, generally 1.5-2.5 meters tall, that need to be hand harvested. I’ll put some numbers to it: each person picking tea can harvest about 20 kg of wet leaf in a day. This translates to roughly 2kg of finished product.
This tea can soak. A full 10 seconds with fresh boiled water for the first two infusions was rich and powerful. I don’t think this tea will disappoint however you like to brew it. Dry leaf: deep, prunes and dried fruit.