{"title":"Song's Flagship Oolongs","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs our knowledge of cultivation and craft grows, so does our ability to play with each successive step, dialing a tea’s final character specifically to our liking. Song had a direct hand in the production of these teas, from field to finish.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"april-27-amber","title":"April 27 Amber","description":"\u003cp class=\"tea-summary\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs our knowledge of cultivation and craft grows, so does our ability to play with each successive step, dialing a tea’s final character specifically to our liking, and this April 27 Oolong is one of a handful of teas that Song has had a direct hand in during every stage of production, from field to finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur work on this tea began in 2023 during an all night shift spent working alongside a team of skilled tea makers. Just out of the drum ovens following a day of withering and oxidation, those leaves were a wonderful surprise, with unexpected tropic notes and rich, fruity character. What was intended early in the day, as just one tea, veered off into two: the planned mid- roasted version we named Amber and its gently roasted counterpart named Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the 2024 crop, we had the advantage of strong sunlight, and created a pair of oolongs that were floral forward, prompting a reduction in the firing temperature so as to highlight those aromatics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year’s April 27 Oolongs brought its own set of unique challenges. Tea pickers are contracted by day, and paid by the volume they harvest. The small garden we work with makes less economic sense to a picker than a large one, and so we struggled to secure a crew for our oolong harvest. In the end, we settled for what was available - a group of pickers seasoned in the harvest of Oriental Beauty. Highly skilled in their own right, their picking style varied drastically from that of high mountain oolong harvesters. Oriental Beauty is picked with just one hand, each leaf selected by feel for the right size and shape. High mountain oolong, conversely, is harvested double handed, with small blades attached to the pickers fingers, and the process is nearly twice as fast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis slowed our morning harvest considerably, and in turn, our production. After the extended oxidation period required to draw forth the proper aromatics of this tea, bruising, kill green, and rolling were pushed far into the early hours of the following morning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite these delays, the stars were aligned for the quality and character of the tea leaves. The slow harvest meant the fields were exposed to more afternoon sunshine, speeding the oxidation process of the leaves and deepening its flavor profile, expressing in a tea with incredible fruitiness, tropical aromas and sweetness. And our ad-hoc team of pickers harvested the leaves with less stem that normal for a high mountain oolong, expediting the drying processes during withering and initial heating, and allowing the tea makers to get back on schedule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the end, this iteration, April 27 Amber, underwent rounds of medium-temperature charcoal roasting over longan wood pits, lending it a richness and caramel-like finish that contrasts wonderfully to its \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/april-27-gold\"\u003egolden counterpart\u003c\/a\u003e. The result of hours of careful crafting is tantalizingly sweet and layered tea with a soft, rich texture and finish.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":51688655061205,"sku":"o-0049-30g","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":51688655093973,"sku":"o-0049-60g","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":51688655126741,"sku":"o-0049-120g","price":84.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":51688655159509,"sku":"o-0049-240g","price":168.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":51688655192277,"sku":"o-0049-gc-60g","price":46.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Single brew | 5g","offer_id":51688655225045,"sku":"o-0049-single-5g","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/o-a27a-1_cbf52af4-9522-40fe-94a6-9e02a95d2619.jpg?v=1752695798"},{"product_id":"april-27-gold","title":"April 27 Gold","description":"\u003cp class=\"product-notes\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs our knowledge of cultivation and craft grows, so does our ability to play with each successive step, dialing a tea’s final character specifically to our liking, and this April 27 Oolong is one of a handful of teas that Song has had a direct hand in during every stage of production, from field to finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur work on this tea began in 2023 during an all night shift spent working alongside a team of skilled tea makers. Just out of the drum ovens following a day of withering and oxidation, those leaves were a wonderful surprise, with unexpected tropic notes and rich, fruity character. What was intended early in the day, as just one tea, veered off into two: the planned mid- roasted version we named Amber and its gently roasted counterpart named Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the 2024 crop, we had the advantage of strong sunlight, and created a pair of oolongs that were floral forward, prompting a reduction in the firing temperature so as to highlight those aromatics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year’s April 27 Oolongs brought its own set of unique challenges. Tea pickers are contracted by day, and paid by the volume they harvest. The small garden we work with makes less economic sense to a picker than a large one, and so we struggled to secure a crew for our oolong harvest. In the end, we settled for what was available - a group of pickers seasoned in the harvest of Oriental Beauty. Highly skilled in their own right, their picking style varied drastically from that of high mountain oolong harvesters. Oriental Beauty is picked with just one hand, each leaf selected by feel for the right size and shape. High mountain oolong, conversely, is harvested double handed, with small blades attached to the pickers fingers, and the process is nearly twice as fast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis slowed our morning harvest considerably, and in turn, our production. After the extended oxidation period required to draw forth the proper aromatics of this tea, bruising, kill green, and rolling were pushed far into the early hours of the following morning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite these delays, the stars were aligned for the quality and character of the tea leaves. The slow harvest meant the fields were exposed to more afternoon sunshine, speeding the oxidation process of the leaves and deepening its flavor profile, expressing in a tea with incredible fruitiness, tropical aromas and sweetness. And our ad-hoc team of pickers harvested the leaves with less stem that normal for a high mountain oolong, expediting the drying processes during withering and initial heating, and allowing the tea makers to get back on schedule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the lightest of charcoal bakes - just enough to set the leaves, and concentrate the plant’s innate sugars - we suspended this version, April 27 Gold, in a state as close to that of the night it was crafted as possible, creating an incredibly floral and sweet-noted tea, and a wonderful counterpart to its \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/april-27-amber\"\u003eamber-roasted twin\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":51711881773269,"sku":"o-0048-30g","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":51711881806037,"sku":"o-0048-60g","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":51711881838805,"sku":"o-0048-120g","price":84.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":51711881871573,"sku":"o-0048-240g","price":168.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":51711881904341,"sku":"o-0048-gc-60g","price":46.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Single brew | 6g","offer_id":51711881937109,"sku":"o-0048-single-6g","price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/o-a27g-1.jpg?v=1752696626"},{"product_id":"may-8-gold-oolong","title":"May 8 Gold","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe three May 8 Oolongs are teas that Song had a direct hand in during every stage of production, from field to finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur work on this flagship series began in 2023. Working alongside a team of skilled tea makers, we crafted a long oxidized oolong with unexpected tropical notes with a rich, fruity character. That night of production yielded two teas: a mid-roasted version we named Amber, and its gently roasted counterpart named Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn subsequent years, our attempts to recapture the essence of that 2023 tea met with unique challenges. Increased sunshine one year, imminent rain and a lack of qualified pickers the next. With each harvest, we’ve had to adjust and recalibrate our approach, learning more and exposing more flavor as our experience grows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year’s May 8 Oolongs brought its own set of unique challenges. Inclement weather delayed our expected harvest day, typically slated for the last week of April. As we waited for skies to clear, the leaves at our original garden on Shan Lin Xi continued to grow, finally exceeding the size suitable for the type of tea we were after.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe spent hours making phone calls to locate a higher elevation farm whose leaves had not yet grown out of range, opting finally on a remote 1600m garden in an area called Hong Xiang, south of Lishan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was a lucky break, not only in light of the tightly packed schedule of tea farms during the spring harvest and the fortuitous break in weather - the rain stopped during our scheduled harvest, but picked back up the following day - but also because this increase in elevation featured leaves that, as a rule, grow more slowly and with more concentrated flavor than tea trees at lower elevation. The confluence of all these factors results in a tea that is quite superlative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the lightest of charcoal bakes - just enough to set the leaves, and concentrate the plant’s innate sugars - we suspended this version, May 8 Gold, in a state as close to that of the night it was crafted as possible, creating an incredibly verdant and sweet-noted tea, and a wonderful counterpart to its \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/may-8-amber\"\u003eamber-roasted\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/may-8-dark\"\u003edark-roasted\u003c\/a\u003e counterparts.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":54280045297877,"sku":"o-0055-30g","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":54280045330645,"sku":"o-0055-60g","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":54280045363413,"sku":"o-0055-120g","price":96.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":54280045396181,"sku":"o-0055-240g","price":192.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":54280045428949,"sku":"o-0055-gc-60g","price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Single brew | 6g","offer_id":54280045461717,"sku":"o-0055-single-6g","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/may8_gold_2.jpg?v=1784300322"},{"product_id":"may-8-amber","title":"May 8 Amber","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe three May 8 Oolongs are teas that Song had a direct hand in during every stage of production, from field to finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur work on this flagship series began in 2023. Working alongside a team of skilled tea makers, we crafted a long oxidized oolong with unexpected tropical notes with a rich, fruity character. That night of production yielded two teas: a mid-roasted version we named Amber, and its gently roasted counterpart named Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn subsequent years, our attempts to recapture the essence of that 2023 tea met with unique challenges. Increased sunshine one year, imminent rain and a lack of qualified pickers the next. With each harvest, we’ve had to adjust and recalibrate our approach, learning more and exposing more flavor as our experience grows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year’s May 8 Oolongs brought its own set of unique challenges. Inclement weather delayed our expected harvest day, typically slated for the last week of April. As we waited for skies to clear, the leaves at our original garden on Shan Lin Xi continued to grow, finally exceeding the size suitable for the type of tea we were after.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe spent hours making phone calls to locate a higher elevation farm whose leaves had not yet grown out of range, opting finally on a remote 1600m garden in an area called Hong Xiang, south of Lishan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was a lucky break, not only in light of the tightly packed schedule of tea farms during the spring harvest and the fortuitous break in weather - the rain stopped during our scheduled harvest, but picked back up the following day - but also because this increase in elevation featured leaves that, as a rule, grow more slowly and with more concentrated flavor than tea trees at lower elevation. The confluence of all these factors results in a tea that is quite superlative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the end, this iteration, May 8 Amber, underwent rounds of medium-temperature charcoal roasting over longan wood pits, lending it a richness and caramel-like finish that contrasts wonderfully to it’s \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/may-8-gold\"\u003egolden\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/songtea.com\/products\/may-8-dark\"\u003edark\u003c\/a\u003e counterparts. The result of hours of careful crafting is tantalizingly sweet and layered tea with a soft, rich texture and finish.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":54282283843797,"sku":"o-0056-30g","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":54282283876565,"sku":"o-0056-60g","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":54282283909333,"sku":"o-0056-120g","price":96.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":54282283942101,"sku":"o-0056-240g","price":192.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":54282283974869,"sku":"o-0056-gc-60g","price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Single brew | 6g","offer_id":54282284007637,"sku":"o-0056-single-6g","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/may8_amber_2.jpg?v=1784300390"},{"product_id":"may-8-dark","title":"May 8 Dark","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe three May 8 Oolongs are teas that Song had a direct hand in during every stage of production, from field to finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur work on this flagship series began in 2023. Working alongside a team of skilled tea makers, we crafted a long oxidized oolong with unexpected tropical notes with a rich, fruity character. That night of production yielded two teas: a mid-roasted version we named Amber, and its gently roasted counterpart named Gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn subsequent years, our attempts to recapture the essence of that 2023 tea met with unique challenges. Increased sunshine one year, imminent rain and a lack of qualified pickers the next. With each harvest, we’ve had to adjust and recalibrate our approach, learning more and exposing more flavor as our experience grows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis year’s May 8 Oolongs brought its own set of unique challenges. Inclement weather delayed our expected harvest day, typically slated for the last week of April. As we waited for skies to clear, the leaves at our original garden on Shan Lin Xi continued to grow, finally exceeding the size suitable for the type of tea we were after.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe spent hours making phone calls to locate a higher elevation farm whose leaves had not yet grown out of range, opting finally on a remote 1600m garden in an area called Hong Xiang, south of Lishan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was a lucky break, not only in light of the tightly packed schedule of tea farms during the spring harvest and the fortuitous break in weather - the rain stopped during our scheduled harvest, but picked back up the following day - but also because this increase in elevation featured leaves that, as a rule, grow more slowly and with more concentrated flavor than tea trees at lower elevation. The confluence of all these factors results in a tea that is quite superlative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMay 8 Dark is the deepest roasted of our three versions of this harvest, capturing the sweetest, richest qualities of this tea. The rounds of high-fired roasting over longan charcoal pits are still evident in the brewed tea, but as this batch rests over the coming months, this fieryness will dissipate, giving way to the deep woodsy floral notes innate to these leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Song Tea","offers":[{"title":"30g pouch","offer_id":54285103497429,"sku":"o-0057-30g","price":26.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"60g pouch","offer_id":54285103530197,"sku":"o-0057-60g","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"120g pouch","offer_id":54285103562965,"sku":"o-0057-120g","price":96.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"240g pouch","offer_id":54285103595733,"sku":"o-0057-240g","price":192.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"White Kraft Canister | 60g","offer_id":54285103628501,"sku":"o-0057-gc-60g","price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Single brew | 6g","offer_id":54285103661269,"sku":"o-0057-single-6g","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1728\/6899\/files\/may8_dark_2.jpg?v=1784300423"}],"url":"https:\/\/songtea.com\/collections\/songs-flagship-oolongs.oembed","provider":"Song Tea \u0026 Ceramics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}