Light to medium charcoal roasted tassels unbraid themselves upon a steep to suspend a peach colored soup with a light + tight mouthfeel.  The brisk, punchy body holds up an well-structured aromatic profile of fresh biscuits, gardenia, fruit leather, and honeysuckle, devolving into mossy wood and sun baked cereal grains upon cooling. Fragrant sweetness on the exhale.

With a history as old as the dynasty it was named after, 宋种 Sòng Zhǒng dancong commands the attention of the tea master; doing justice to a respected cultivar as storied as this one is a classic metric of craftsmanship in the area.  So signs bode well when we asked Wen Jian Fu what tea he was feeling proud of and he pulled out this Songzhong.  Mr. Wen, the vice president of the Chaozhou Tea Industry Association, is a quiet, intense, straightforward, and disciplined man.  He is serious about his craft and insists on maintaining quality control by overseeing every step, especially the ending charcoal roasting step.

Well-resourced with family trees of various ages at various elevations, Wen's Songzhong gardens were planted in 1955 and rest at an elevation of 600 meters, enabling this tea to hit high marks without completely breaking the bank. Harvested in spring 2025, this one was roasted and rested 3 separates times, the last one right before the Chinese New Year.  This is an ideal time to enjoy this tea.