Name: Master Fang's Spring White Teas Set
SKU: 05675646
Availability: InStock

Master Fang’s Spring White Teas Set

£275.00

Three aged Spring white teas representing the spectrum of Spring Bai Mu Dan (White Peony) production of Master Fang, one of China’s foremost experts in white tea production. Master Fang helps run the Centre for White Tea Research in Fuding as well as overseeing the production of white tea on his three farms on Taimushan which comprise just 11.5 acres. He uses no pesticides or artificial fertilisers on his 20-30 year old trees, believing that above all else white tea should reflect the local terroir and ecosystem on which it is grown and be absolutely free of any impurities.

As well as being a farmer, Master Fang is also an innovator in the white tea world having patented double-sunshine withering and off-ground cleaning technology which are now widely used. To mimic traditional sun-dried white tea he uses his own manually controlled sun-light room which provides precise drying all year round allowing him to make tea in all four seasons. The tea is withered for 36 hours on bamboo drums and during this process hands are not allowed to touch the leaves in case they cause them to shrink. Unlike many other producers Master Fang does not increase the temperature to accelerate drying, nor does he use light roasting to increase fragrance.

We have decided to stick with Master Fang’s original intention of selling these teas as a set, and they show a fascinating insight into how season changes the flavour of a minimally processed tea from one area over the course of 12 months. Each tea is different but all are distinguished by their balance, clarity of taste and long-lasting sweetness. The four years of ageing has also increased their strong body effect to an extent we don’t normally encounter outside great puerh and oolong teas.

Spring 1 – 5/4/2014

Master Fang’s highest grade of Bai Mu Dan, made on April 5th 2014, on Qingming festival. The tea is immaculately processed with a very high proportion of downy silver buds in comparison to his other Bai Mu Dan, intensely sweet with notes of raw almonds and a creamy texture in the mouth and throat. The aftertaste is exceptionally long and the sweetness remains in the mouth well after it has been drunk, with a potent body effect.

Spring 2 – 11/4/2014

Even though it’s made less than a week after Spring 1 this Bai Mu Dan is very different in character, with larger brown and green leaves and a heavier body. The first infusions are light with notes of almond, straw, goji berry and honey, becoming richer and darker with subsequent infusions.

Spring 3 – 4/5/2014

The bookend of Master Fang’s Spring 2014 harvest, this tea was made in early May and made up predominantly of larger green and dark leaves with a smaller proportion of silver buds. The immediate difference from Spring 1 + 2 is the texture which is syrupy and heavy in the throat, with the strongest body effect out of the three. The tea has lost the fresh almond taste of the earlier teas with a heavier apple, fresh barley and white peach, with a slight aniseed note coming out in later infusions.

ORIGIN
Master Fang, Taimushan (600m altitude), Fuding, Fujian, China

SIZE OF FARM
11.5 acres

PLANTS AND PROCESSING
Spring 1 – Camellia Sinensis Sinsensis. Harvested 5/4/2014 Handpicked and sun dried. Bai Mu Dan processing.
Spring 2 Camellia Sinensis Sinsensis. Harvested 11/4/2014 Handpicked and sun dried. Bai Mu Dan processing.
Spring 3 – Camellia Sinensis Sinsensis. Harvested 4/5/2014 Handpicked and sun dried. Bai Mu Dan processing.

BREWING
95°C, 3g per 150ml. Many infusions.

SKU: 05675646 Categories: Box Sets, TEAS

Description

Master Fang started his journey in tea working for one of the state-owned factories in Fuding learning about tea manufacture with a speciality in mechanism. In 2001 he left to start tea production by himself and invented his own manually controlled sun-light room which allows precise drying all year round, an innovation many farmers have now followed. In 2003 he started reclaiming tea fields in Taimushan and committed himself to completely organic farming. It is Master Fang’s philosophy that white tea should be a pure reflection of the local terroir and ecosystem, and therefore should be absolutely free of any impurities.

Master Fang’s farms are deep within Taimushan away from human habitation and accessible with difficulty only through the forest and a small mountain road. Although he started farming using organic fertiliser he has now switched exclusively to using dung from wild sheep, reasoning that the dung from other livestock may be compromised by artificial feed. The old trees on Taimushan are a natural bird habitat and since insecticides are prohibited he relies on them to tackle the problem of insects on the farms. Master Fang picks and processes his tea in a very traditional way despite the high costs, paying his workers double the regular rate to ensure that the picking is flawless and that the buds and leaves are exactly the right size. His yearly production across all seasons is just 2000kg which is around a quarter of the usual yield per acre of most farms in Fuding. Due to variable weather, withering is done in rooms using his patented sun-light technology to mimic traditional sun-dried white tea production and the temperature is kept relatively cool to stop accelerated drying.

Master Fang has received numerous awards for his work, including a gold medal from the Ministry of Agriculture for pressing the world’s largest tea brick for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. His tea was also entered into the North American Tea Championships in which it won the top prize in the white tea category. In 2013 CCTV (China Central Television) made a 6-part documentary on tea called Tea: Story of a Leaf which focused solely on Master Fang in the segment on white tea.

Master Fang’s teas are also suitable for ageing and will gain complexity and depth if stored well, proving the Chinese adage that white tea is ‘one year – tea, three years – medicine and seven years – treasure’ (“一年茶、三年药、七年宝”)