Despite life’s many trials and tribulations, I have experienced much of the beauty that remote places have to offer. One of those places is the Tong Mu Guan Scenic area outside of Wuyi. The entire drive to reach the restricted area is breathtaking. Though we all love bright clear sunny days, I think I was blessed with a day full of scattered rains and gusts of wind, that made the rivers run strong and the forests quiver more dramatically.
TMG is the source of the worlds first black tea. Legend has it that it all came about as an accident. As the story goes, an army had occupied the tea factory and the tea leaves that were meant to be processed were left to sit. When the army finally left, the farmers rushed to salvage the tea by rolling the leaves into strips and drying them with pinewood fire.
Thats how the story goes at least. 
This tea today is a look back in time at how the original black teas may have tasted. My first time to try this tea was in Tong Mu Guan and certainly was a memorable experience. I remember I took a photograph using an old hasselblad of the trees swaying in the breeze as the first cups were being poured. The potent scent of pine smoke and longan fruit filling the room. The scent blended with cigarette smoke, and the story of how this tea is produced. it almost felt like we were there. I mean, I guess we were… just not in the factory! 
Like many black and more heavily roasted oolong teas, it can benefit to let this tea age a year of more as the flavors develop. We usually recommend to have one tea session while it is in early age, and then allowed to further age and mature over time. This is the only way you can truly begin to notice transformations.
This is the definition of the perfect autumn tea and is fully pleasant in the winter months as well. This old tree is very cost effective compared to other high quality teas from Tong My Guan.