DETAILED TASTING NOTES

Warm Leaf Smell: distinct golden flower smell: shroomy, forest floor, but also some blackberry
Wet Leaf Smell: shoumei shines through, antique wood, barberries, hibiscus
Texture Feel: medium-thick, milky
Taste: chamomile, wet autumn forest, thyme, root syrup
Finish Feel: nice sweet finish, quite smooth, easy going, dry to juicy
Empty Cup Smell: pine forest
Aftertaste: dry culinary herbs, raspberry leaf
Body Feel: warm, mellow, meditative

Category: White Tea
Native Name: 金花寿茯茶
Harvest: 2020 Spring
Origin: Fuding, Ningde District, Fujian Province; processed into Fu brick in Jingyang county, Shaanxi Province, China
Cultivar: Fuding Dabaihao
Altitude: 500–800m

Forest Saint-Germain is a white tea hand-pressed into a fuzhuan (Fu brick) in Jingyang, Shaanxi. Processing white tea this way is genuinely rare. But the real draw is how it balances the herbal sweetness of a well-aged white tea with the sweetness and shroominess of jinhua (golden flowers). The golden flowers are present but not too loud, just like in our Golden Loaf, the classic Dark Tea Fu brick from the same producer. The hand-pressing also means it breaks apart effortlessly.

GongFu brewing:
100°C
6g /100ml
1st infusion: 15sec, next: +3sec/infusion
15 infusions
 
Boiled:
A great candidate for boiling - instead or after Gongfu brewing. Use 5-10g per 500ml, and consider adding 1-2 crystals of good mineral salt. Simmer on a low flame and top up with water as needed. The longer it boils, the thicker, darker and smoother it gets. Leave at least a third of the soup in the pot and refill with hot water as many times as you like.
 
On the go:
Throw 5-10g into a litre flask, fill with boiling water (100°C), and drink throughout the day.

The fuzhuan (Fu brick) is a type of tea that undergoes a unique fermentation in which a fungus called eurotium cristatum grows inside the brick as characteristic golden dots, known as jinhua (golden flowers). Jingyang, in Shaanxi province, where Fu tea is said to have originated, has been perfecting this craft for around six centuries.
 
Jingyang Fu teas often use heimaocha (raw material) from other regions. The raw material for this brick was harvested and processed into Shoumei in Fuding, Fujian, renowned for its white teas. The Shoumei standard is one bud and two/three leaves. It was then transported to Jingyang, where it was inoculated with the brand's own golden flower culture, and hand-pressed into bricks before 45 days of aging in dedicated chambers. Entirely handmade.
 
The story of this tea with Tea Drunk Monkeys starts in Xi'an, where Efim happened to meet a Jingyang native who produces and sells his teas locally. He opened his shop just for us during the holidays, answered every question directly, and showed us what he and a close friend are quietly experimenting with. Their teas are nearly impossible to find elsewhere in China, let alone abroad.

The golden dots you see throughout the brick are not mold in any harmful sense. They are eurotium cristatum, a fungal culture that has been cultivated intentionally in Fu tea production for hundreds of years, prized for the depth it adds to the flavour and for its reputed digestive and metabolic benefits.
 
We've come across anecdotal reports online of people sensitive to gluten reacting to golden flower, though we've found no concrete evidence explaining this. No gluten was used at any stage in the processing of this tea. If you have known sensitivities, we'd suggest starting with a small amount.