A madly aromatic and syrupy Black tea, bulging with tropical fruits and sweet candy.
How does Tong Mu do it? This small village nestled in the Wuyi mountains continues to create the most sublime and varied Black teas on Earth.
Hundreds of years ago, the villagers of Tong Mu invented Black tea and they could easily rest on their laurels and continue to produce their traditional teas. But this Old World terroir can do so much more and, thankfully, Tong Mu continues to innovate new teas (especially after the explosion in popularity of Jin Jun Mei).
This tea is made from a super fruity small leaf cultivar and picked from 25-year-old bushes.
It is called 'Fei Zi Xiao' which is the name for one of the most delicious varieties of lychee in China. The name translates to 'Consort's Smile' because apparently, this lychee was the favourite fruit of a royal consort. This tea has adopted the name because it is just so damn fruity, with sweet lychee notes. It is sometimes called 'Lychee Black' but BEWARE - most lychee Black tea is low grade and artificially scented nonsense.
The aromatics of this tea are remarkable, reminiscent of the muscatel fruity and zesty floral notes of Taiwanese bug-bitten tea but sweeter and more tropical - think tinned peaches, guava and, of course, lychee.
But a tea with all of this sweet fragrance must have some backbone to hold it all together and this is where the Tong Mu terroir steps in. There is some dark chocolate, poppy seeds and pinewoods to add an adult 'structure' to the tea followed by a brisk minerality which creates a vaporous finish to leave your mouth with a fog of peach candy.
This tea is not only delicious to enjoy by itself but, because of its potent fruity sweetness, it can be used to lift more tired or flat teas. Blend 50/50 with any other Black tea and see what it can do!
Oh, and if you know anyone that only drinks sweet tea, this is the tea to coax them into the world of true tea. It makes a great tea gift (or just keep a stash on your shelves for when they come to visit).
A fruity, sweet, floral bomb with old-world sophistication - Tong Mu I love you.
