The Southern Road

Why these five

Zhejiang pan-fired green, Anxi rolled oolong, Phoenix single-bush oolong, Yunnan purple cultivar green, Yunnan pressed white with real osmanthus. Five teas from five different Chinese traditions, all sourced through Curious Tea's UK wholesale so nothing waits on customs. Neither a beginner set nor a connoisseur one. Taste each in turn and end somewhere you would not start.

The tasting order

1. Step 1
   Xi Hu Longjing (West Lake Dragon Well)

   Flat-pressed pan-fired leaves from the West Lake hills near Hangzhou. Chestnut and sweet grass, no drama. First because Longjing sets a quiet baseline before anything louder arrives.

   Xi Hu, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China · green
2. Step 2
   Qingxiang Tie Guan Yin (Iron Goddess, Light Fragrance)

   Small rolled balls of Tieguanyin from Anxi in Fujian, lightly oxidised in the modern style that took over in the 1990s. Orchid and butter, no roast layer to muddy them. It follows the Longjing because the character stays aromatic without added body.

   Anxi, Fujian, China · oolong
3. Step 3
   Ya Shi Xiang Dan Cong (Duck Shit Fragrance)

   The farmer named it Duck Shit to keep thieves away from his best trees. The real thing is Ya Shi Xiang from single bushes on Wudong Mountain in the Chaozhou Phoenix range, twisted strip, medium-roasted. The orchid deepens into honey, and something like almond cake arrives when the body does.

   Wudong Mountain, Chaozhou, Guangdong, China · oolong
4. Step 4
   Yunnan Zi Juan (Purple Beauty)

   A natural mutation the Yunnan Tea Research Institute stabilised in 1985 in Simao. The whole plant grows purple from anthocyanins, the same class of compound that colours red wine. Brewed as green it makes a pale pink cup that tastes of grape and dried cherry, a curiosity that earns its place after the oolongs.

   Simao, Yunnan, China · green
5. Step 5
   Gui Hua Yue Guang Bai (Osmanthus Moonlight White)

   Yunnan moonlight white from Jinggu, made from large-leaf assamica and withered so long the leaves darken past a Fujian white. Pressed with real osmanthus blossom into thin 5g squares, one per brew. Woody depth, a soft floral top. It sits closer to puer than to Fuding, which is why it comes last.

   Jinggu, Pu'er, Yunnan, China · white