This tea comes from Gui Zhu Hu Village in Wu Dong, at an altitude of 1200m, from trees about 70 years old. Its main character is a sweet floral flavor similar to black locust and honeysuckle. You can also sense a sweet, berry-like flavor. Because the tea garden sits at a very high altitude, the tea has a dense flavor and a rich taste with a long lingering finish.
Ye Lai Xiang is one of the ten aroma types of Phoenix Oolong. Any tea with this flavor can be called Ye Lai Xiang, regardless of which cultivar or tree it comes from. Bei Tou Ye Lai Xiang, on the other hand, is a cultivar descended from one specific mother tree, and it shows the Ye Lai Xiang flavor.
The mother tree of this tea grew in front of a grave, so the tea was originally called Bei Tou Ye Lai Xiang, written with the characters 碑头 (it means gravestone). Because the name recalls a grave, in recent years it has been written with different characters, 陂头 (it means slope).
Ye Lai Xiang is the Chinese name for Tonkin jasmine, known as Ieraishan in Japanese. The aroma type takes its name from its resemblance to the flower's scent. Its flavor is also very similar to the scent of black locust flowers.
We frequently visit Fenghuang Town in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, to source high-quality Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong tea directly.
An old Phoenix Dan Cong tree on Wu Dong Shan and me, Akira Hojo
Tea trees growing on the steep, rocky slopes of Wu Dong Shan
Among Dan Cong teas, tea harvested from especially old trees is called "Lao Cong."
