A history told through tea of home, kinship, and community. Specially curated by Peter Luong

The Founder's Collection is a subscription series that takes members beyond Song's core teas. Sourced by Song's founder and tea buyer, Peter Luong, the collection features outstanding, unique, and enigmatic teas that are not available anywhere else.

Members of 2019’s debut Founder’s Collection placed their trust in Peter’s talent to scout out and determine the most exquisite teas during his Spring sourcing trip. His aim was to assemble a set of teas outside the constraints of Song's core collection, teas that for reasons of scarcity, obscurity, cost or otherwise, did not fit within our broader line-up.

Volume 02 continues in this pursuit, while acknowledging the hurdles presented by sourcing remotely. The teas featured in this year’s Founder’s Collection give testament to Peter’s sourcing experience, palate, and intuition, honed over the last two decades. They are, in a way, the biography of Song Tea. A retrospective of our history and inception tracing back nearly half a century from the early day’s of the Luong family apothecary, to Peter's first tour of Alishan and the taste and textures of High Mountain Oolongs, trips where caution (and security deposit) were thrown to the wind and rental cars were forced up narrow dirt roads to breathtaking alpine tea gardens, and finally, personal treasures mined from Peter’s own tea archive here in San Francisco. Together, each issue in the collection tells the story of first encounters, memories of home, kinship, and community. And above all, they represents the most exquisite, superlative teas we’ve tasted over the last decades.

Membership is limited to 45 participants. This page will close when all spots have been filled. Please add this collection to your cart separately from other items.

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As a member, you will receive a shipment from the collection every other month, six times a year. Your first shipment will arrive in July 2020, barring shipment issues at origin. Price is inclusive of shipping.

Each shipment includes 1-2 carefully selected teas, along with brewing guidelines, tasting notes and flavor profiles, and a personal note from Peter detailing the origin of each tea, the story of how he found it, and why it made the cut for the collection. We are aiming to have approximately 50-120 grams of tea per shipment. However, exact tea quantities may vary depending on the type and rarity of the tea in each shipment.

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Volume 02 Selections

Issue 01: DISCOVERY: Gongmei White Tea, Huangjin Green Tea

Issue 02: FAMILY: Mr.+Mrs. Chen's New Garden

Issue 03: ROOTS: 2005 Aged Alishan, 2013 Alishan Zhu Lu

Issue 04: PU-ERH: 1990s Archival Tea Cake

Issue 05: SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING OLD: Eight Wuyi Yancha Cultivars

Issue 06: EARLY TEA TRIPS: Arbor Yinzhen 2016, 2018, 2020