Huang Jin Gui

Huang Jin Gui — golden osmanthus — is one of the four famous oolongs of Anxi in Fujian, made from the Huang Dan bush. It buds earliest of the Anxi teas, so its spring leaf reaches the cup before the rest, and it is loved above all for fragrance: a clean osmanthus-and-gardenia perfume that gave rise to the local saying that you can name the leaf by smell alone.

Where Tieguanyin is round and creamy, Huang Jin Gui is high and bright. The lid of the gaiwan all but throws its scent at you, an effect the Chinese call tòutiānxiāng, “fragrance that pierces the sky.” The liquor is golden and the taste fine and lively — osmanthus, ripe pear and honey, fresh on the tongue with a clear sweetness that keeps returning.

In the cup

Brew it near boiling but keep the steeps short, especially the first few, or the very fragrance that makes it can tip into thinness. A white porcelain gaiwan is ideal: porcelain holds no scent of its own, so the osmanthus reads true, pour after pour.