Pouchong

Baozhong — Pouchong — occupies the territory between green tea and oolong: oxidised to only around 12–18%, it retains the fresh, vegetal character of a fine green tea while developing a delicacy and floral complexity that green tea alone rarely achieves. Produced in the Wenshan district north of Taipei, the large, loosely twisted leaves brew a very pale, clear liquor with an extraordinarily clean aroma — lily, fresh air, the faintest suggestion of orchid — and a finish that lingers long after the cup is empty. Fragile and exceptional.