Tongmuguan Fruit

Tea: Fruit Fragrance Lapsang Souchong (Guohua Xiaozhong 果香小种)Type: Tongmuguan Black Tea (hongcha)Cultivar: XiaozhongHarvest:  May, 2025Region: Tongmuguan, FujianProducer: Zhang FamilyTasting Notes: Mango, Pomelo, Cinnamon, Rock Candy, Raw Honey This is a black tea made in the modern style of production.  Modernity came to the Tongmuguan region a little late, around the 1990s.  Old Zhang told us how they used to walk down the mountain paths with the tea they made up on the mountain in the 1980s because inroads hadn't even been built yet.  The Fruit Fragrance is surprisingly distinct from its close cousin the Flower Fragrance (Tongmuguan Flower), but the leaves like all the Tongmuguan teas remain relatively thin and slender. When placed in the warmed gaiwan, the leaves exude a distinctly tropical fruit fragrance, we get mangos and something citrus like pomelo.  This changes drastically once hot water is added and we get the classic cinnamon fragrance common to these modern production st