PROFILE: GREEN PLUM, RAISIN, MOSS, STONE, FLORAL, SPICE, SHENG-STYLE

ORIGIN: Y TI, LAO CAI, VIETNAM

HARVEST: NOVEMBER 2018

A distinctive and very well balanced sheng-style dark tea from Y Ti in Lao Cai province. Produced in a Red Dao community where families live either side of the Vietnam/ China border which is separated by a simple stream here. This is another complex tea with a broad range of flavours – green plum, raisin, moss, stone, floral, mild spice and dried hay – that take turns to explode in the mouth. Pleasing bitterness and a very long sweet aftertaste make Forest Genie an extremely refreshing tea.

Wild trees grow deep in the ancient forest in Y Ti at altitudes of 2,000 metres and above. Harvested leaves are collected and taken to the village where they are gently pan-dried, rolled and left in the sun to dry in small batches by an artisan tea-maker.