The Rare Tea Collection
Occasionally, we are lucky enough to procure small allotments of very special teas. This set of rare Taiwanese oolongs is beautifully complementary in profile, yet still fully encompasses the complexity of aroma and flavor native to the Taiwanese terroir and style of oolong production.
With this set, you will explore two of our favorite tea mountains: Ali Shan and Shan Lin Xi, as well as three of our favorite styles of Taiwanese oolong: lightly oxidized high mountain oolong, roasted oolong, and bug-bitten oolong.
High Mountain Oolong
Ali Shan, Taiwan
Winter 2023 Harvest
A beautiful winter harvest of classic high mountain oolong from Ali Shan, this rolled oolong is cultivated by a husband and wife team on a residential tea garden surrounded by forests at an elevation of 1200m. This gorgeous tea has a creamy, fruity aroma with tasting notes of vibrant florals and delicate pastries.
Light Roast High Mountain Oolong
Shan Lin Xi, Taiwan
Fall 2023 harvest
Sourced and roasted "finished" by Lisa Lin, a well respected tea affineur (one who refines or edits) of Dong Ding oolong. Lin was particularly taken with this day's harvest due to its aromatic profile and the fact that it is sufficiently oxidized to produce a beautiful roasted tea. Lin roasted these leaves twice for a total of 14 hours. The result is a very pleasantly complex, sweet profile with a pastry character and mild notes of warming spices akin to mace and coriander.
Concubine Oolong
Ali Shan, Taiwan
Fall 2023 harvest
An exemplary concubine roasted three times by a master affineur, this bug bitten oolong is sure to please. Light/medium roast, to accentuate the honey fragrance. Concubine Tea differs from another classic bug bitten tea, Oriental Beauty, in that its leaves are tightly rolled, rather than curled in the traditional mainland Chinese method.
Collection Includes: ~28 first steeps of tea, and many more resteeps!
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Our passion for teas...
We are delighted to be able to share one of the largest and most varied collections of single origin traditional teas on the East Coast with our communi·tea. Personally curated by owner Hayley, these teas come to us from small farms and collectives and represent the best of their terroirs and production styles. While wondering our shelves in-person or online, you will discover familiar favorites like English Breakfast and Long Jing (Dragonwell) alongside rare teas like Shan Lin Xi and herbal tisanes blended for mindfulness, inflammation, and much more.
& bees...
Raw honey is one of nature's most marvelous gifts. Not only is honey a marvel of energy-giving carbohydrates fortified with antioxidants, minerals and beneficial enzymes - making it the healthiest natural sugar - honey comes in a rainbow of flavors and varieties with something for everyone to appreciate and enjoy. From dark, robust honeys like Buckwheat and Chestnut to light or amber honeys like Tupelo or Orange Blossom, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle flavor differences between varietal honeys lend themselves to extraordinary flavor combinations and experimentation in the kitchen, on the charcuterie board, or in your favorite cup of tea.
all started with our Queen Bee!
A trained chef, Hayley's vision for Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. has been her entire lifetime in the making. Though she was still drinking espresso at the time, the Tea & Honey seeds were planted in the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants with training and appreciation for food and beverage as not just sustenance, but experience and hospitality. Her time spent as a chef-instructor at Jacques Pépin's French Culinary Institute introduced her first to matcha (and its ability to enhance sustained and steady focus), then to the subtleties of single-origin traditional teas like high mountain Taiwanese oolong. As a celebrated and awarded taster and master of culinary arts, in 2015 Hayley opened the doors to Saratoga Tea & Honey Co. Since then, she has cultivated a communi·tea for discovering rare and exciting teas, extraordinary raw honeys & unique gifts produced by small farmers and artisans from around the world.