Moli Feng Yan

Moli Feng Yan — jasmine phoenix eye — is one of the finest of Fuzhou’s shaped jasmine teas. Fuzhou in Fujian is the cradle of jasmine tea, and its scenting craft, yìnzhì, is on China’s intangible-heritage list. Here a green tea is laid in alternating beds with fresh-picked sambac jasmine, again and again, so that the leaf drinks in the flower’s scent and the spent blossoms are cleared away — no oils, no flavouring, only flowers.

What sets this one apart is the leaf form: each is hand-rolled into an elegant almond shape said to resemble the eye of the phoenix, the mythical bird that appears, the Chinese say, only in times of peace. The cup is the reward for the work — bright natural jasmine over a clean green base, soft, silky and honeyed, with a long cool finish and no bitterness at all.

In the cup

Brew it cool, around 75 °C, in a glass to watch the phoenix eyes open. It also makes a beautiful cold-brew: the shaped leaf in cold water in the fridge for four to eight hours gives an especially clean, pure jasmine drink. Drink it fresh, while the flower is at its brightest.