Fresh gardenia blossoms scented into a family of fine teas. In Chinese flower language, gardenia stands for strength, eternal love and lifelong devotion. The gardenia black, white and pu-erh teas are made by the studio's traditional method: entirely by hand, with pure fresh flowers, using traditional cold scenting. The gardenia green tea is custom-made using the modern method. Except for the green tea, which has the flowers removed, every style contains tea leaves together with dried petals.
The base is a 2025 unsmoked Zhengshan Xiaozhong (Lapsang Souchong): spring tea from high-mountain old bushes that are never pruned, fertilized or sprayed. Much of it is wild tea, so the leaves look rugged, but the aroma and flavor are exceptional. Packed as 20 × 5g sachets per 100g box.
The base is a 2022 first-grade wild White Peony (Bai Mudan), from carefully stored, high-quality material that the studio bought when prices were high. Prices for this tea have softened since, so the studio has not raised the price for the extra years of storage. Packed as 20 × 5g sachets per 100g box.
"Gardenia, sweet and fragrant, blooms in June; June brings parting, and with it a touch of bitterness."
A delicious, healthy and great-value everyday tea. It shares its base, maker, method and price with the studio's popular "Old Beijing" jasmine green tea. The base is the high-mountain "Lao Chuan" (old Sichuan) cultivar from Muchuan County, Leshan, Sichuan, grown in a garden that uses no fertilizer or pesticides and picked at one bud with three to four leaves. It is made with the modern method: scented four times and pan-dried at low temperature, so the floral fragrance is fresh and rich. The flowers are picked out, leaving only tea leaves. It is produced to standard and tested for pesticide residue.
Cold brew: 2–3g of tea in about 500ml of room-temperature drinking water, refrigerated for 6–10 hours. Wonderfully fragrant, sweet and cool.
Comes as a 250g tin, or 250g in 100 × 2.5g sachets.
The base is 2022 old-tree raw pu-erh loose leaf, the same material the studio pressed into cakes that year. Fittingly, the 2022 edition of Yu Gui used this same batch, and four years later it has been scented with gardenia again.
Charcoal-roasted oolong scented with gardenia, packed as 20 × 2.5g sachets (50g).
The base is 2021 Lincang old-tree ripe (shou) pu-erh of near "palace" grade, the same batch used for the studio's rose ripe pu-erh. It is clean, sweet, smooth and long-lasting, and very delicious.
Scented in June 2020 and packed in 2024 (the label shows the packing date). The gardenias come from unpolluted mountain areas of the tea maker's hometown, Xianning in Hubei, and are rushed back in air-conditioned vehicles to stay fresh. The base is a custom 2019 Zhengshan Xiaozhong of Xiao Chi Gan grade from Tongmu Village in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian. It is grown at about 1,000m in a natural-farming garden with no fertilizer, pesticides or pruning. About 20,000 blossoms were used that year. Gardenias attract tiny insects, so every flower was cleaned one by one with a cold-air blower. The petals were torn by hand to keep their color and shape. Made entirely by hand with pure fresh flowers, using the ancient cold-scenting method.
Dry leaf: the petals are still white, with an elegant, comfortable floral fragrance.
Liquor (May 2023): the first infusion has a coconut-milk impression, and from the second the true character emerges. Lapsang leads, with gardenia in support, and the two are well blended. The liquor is amber, clear and sweet without being cloying, fragrant and silky, soft and comforting. It leaves the mouth full of floral fragrance with a sweet, warm, soft throat, a long finish and eight or more infusions.
Brewing: 5g (with a few dried petals) in a 130–150ml gaiwan, purified water at 95–100°C (203–212°F), 3–10 seconds per steep. The tea and flowers are clean, so there is no need to rinse.
Gardenia is considered cooling in nature and black tea warming, so the two balance each other. Traditionally cold-scented teas keep very well, and this one is individually sachet-packed.
The tea maker's philosophy: many people think the best scented tea is the one with the strongest, longest floral aroma, but that's not quite right. "Strong" is easy: just add more flowers. "Fresh" means coming as close as possible to the scent of the living flower. "Lively" means an aroma that is airy and layered. Above all comes "harmony": if you only wanted the flower, you could grow flowers or steep dried ones. A scented tea should unite the two, with "flower within the tea and tea within the flower."
Packing: 100g = one box or tin; 500g (1 jin) = five 100g boxes or tins.
Storage: room temperature, sealed, dry, cool and clean. Refrigerate the green tea.
Shipping: Each order is prepared for you after purchase and ships within 1–2 weeks.
Fresh gardenia blossoms scented into a family of fine teas. In Chinese flower language, gardenia stands for strength, eternal love and lifelong devotion. The gardenia black, white and pu-erh teas are made by the studio's traditional method: entirely by hand, with pure fresh flowers, using traditional cold scenting. The gardenia green tea is custom-made using the modern method. Except for the green tea, which has the flowers removed, every style contains tea leaves together with dried petals.
The base is a 2025 unsmoked Zhengshan Xiaozhong (Lapsang Souchong): spring tea from high-mountain old bushes that are never pruned, fertilized or sprayed. Much of it is wild tea, so the leaves look rugged, but the aroma and flavor are exceptional. Packed as 20 × 5g sachets per 100g box.
The base is a 2022 first-grade wild White Peony (Bai Mudan), from carefully stored, high-quality material that the studio bought when prices were high. Prices for this tea have softened since, so the studio has not raised the price for the extra years of storage. Packed as 20 × 5g sachets per 100g box.
"Gardenia, sweet and fragrant, blooms in June; June brings parting, and with it a touch of bitterness."
A delicious, healthy and great-value everyday tea. It shares its base, maker, method and price with the studio's popular "Old Beijing" jasmine green tea. The base is the high-mountain "Lao Chuan" (old Sichuan) cultivar from Muchuan County, Leshan, Sichuan, grown in a garden that uses no fertilizer or pesticides and picked at one bud with three to four leaves. It is made with the modern method: scented four times and pan-dried at low temperature, so the floral fragrance is fresh and rich. The flowers are picked out, leaving only tea leaves. It is produced to standard and tested for pesticide residue.
Cold brew: 2–3g of tea in about 500ml of room-temperature drinking water, refrigerated for 6–10 hours. Wonderfully fragrant, sweet and cool.
Comes as a 250g tin, or 250g in 100 × 2.5g sachets.
The base is 2022 old-tree raw pu-erh loose leaf, the same material the studio pressed into cakes that year. Fittingly, the 2022 edition of Yu Gui used this same batch, and four years later it has been scented with gardenia again.
Charcoal-roasted oolong scented with gardenia, packed as 20 × 2.5g sachets (50g).
The base is 2021 Lincang old-tree ripe (shou) pu-erh of near "palace" grade, the same batch used for the studio's rose ripe pu-erh. It is clean, sweet, smooth and long-lasting, and very delicious.
Scented in June 2020 and packed in 2024 (the label shows the packing date). The gardenias come from unpolluted mountain areas of the tea maker's hometown, Xianning in Hubei, and are rushed back in air-conditioned vehicles to stay fresh. The base is a custom 2019 Zhengshan Xiaozhong of Xiao Chi Gan grade from Tongmu Village in the Wuyi Mountains, Fujian. It is grown at about 1,000m in a natural-farming garden with no fertilizer, pesticides or pruning. About 20,000 blossoms were used that year. Gardenias attract tiny insects, so every flower was cleaned one by one with a cold-air blower. The petals were torn by hand to keep their color and shape. Made entirely by hand with pure fresh flowers, using the ancient cold-scenting method.
Dry leaf: the petals are still white, with an elegant, comfortable floral fragrance.
Liquor (May 2023): the first infusion has a coconut-milk impression, and from the second the true character emerges. Lapsang leads, with gardenia in support, and the two are well blended. The liquor is amber, clear and sweet without being cloying, fragrant and silky, soft and comforting. It leaves the mouth full of floral fragrance with a sweet, warm, soft throat, a long finish and eight or more infusions.
Brewing: 5g (with a few dried petals) in a 130–150ml gaiwan, purified water at 95–100°C (203–212°F), 3–10 seconds per steep. The tea and flowers are clean, so there is no need to rinse.
Gardenia is considered cooling in nature and black tea warming, so the two balance each other. Traditionally cold-scented teas keep very well, and this one is individually sachet-packed.
The tea maker's philosophy: many people think the best scented tea is the one with the strongest, longest floral aroma, but that's not quite right. "Strong" is easy: just add more flowers. "Fresh" means coming as close as possible to the scent of the living flower. "Lively" means an aroma that is airy and layered. Above all comes "harmony": if you only wanted the flower, you could grow flowers or steep dried ones. A scented tea should unite the two, with "flower within the tea and tea within the flower."
Packing: 100g = one box or tin; 500g (1 jin) = five 100g boxes or tins.
Storage: room temperature, sealed, dry, cool and clean. Refrigerate the green tea.
Shipping: Each order is prepared for you after purchase and ships within 1–2 weeks.
