This is a rare Yunnan black tea which gives an elegant flavor like Uva (Sri Lanka high mountain black tea). It has multi-layer of floral and muscatel note like honey and raisins. You can enjoy both muscatel flavor like Oriental Beauty and Darjeeling First Flush (refreshing floral note). It has a hint of minty undertone. The flavor and taste is well-balanced, with smooth drinking sensation that lasts for a few brewing. Tea is not bitter or astringent. It can be enjoyed with or without milk/sugar.
Tea is produced from old tea tree grown in natural farming garden. No pesticide or fertilizer is given to the tea trees. This practice has been continued for hundreds of year. It's the traditional tea growing practice, which is now almost replaced by modern agricultural method that uses fertilizer and pesticide. Only the remote tea growing area still practicing the traditional tea growing method. With natural farming method, tea trees grow slowly. It takes sufficient time to accumulate high content of minerals and tea substances, so tea has a rich taste and deep aftertaste down the throat. When drinking tea with high mineral content, our body feel warm. It improves the blood circulation and our body feel relax.
This natural farming tea garden is located at the South Western part of Yunnan, Lincang, and near to the border of Myanmar-China. The tea garden is located at high mountain of altitude > 2000m.
The natural-farming tea garden belongs to ethnic minorities. The tea trees are left unattended, becoming like wild plants in nature. No fertilizer or pesticide is given, and not pruning/cutting of tea trees. It's a healthy ecology system.
Tea trees become part of the ecosystem. When no fertilizer is given, tea trees will grow slowly, and not actively performing photosynthesis. So, each tea tree has limited number of tea leaf, and each tea leaf accumulates high content of minerals from the soil and rich in tea substances. This is clearly reflected on the rich taste and clear drinking sensation of tea. We called it a healthy tea.
Tea trees become part of the ecosystem. When no fertilizer is given, tea trees will grow slowly, and not actively performing photosynthesis. So, each tea tree has limited number of tea leaf, and each tea leaf accumulates high content of minerals from the soil and rich in tea substances. This is clearly reflected on the rich taste and clear drinking sensation of tea. We called it a healthy tea.
When tea garden is left wild, not using pesticide or fertilizer, tea trees grow slowly and insects live in this balance ecology. This small insect is called planthopper, it bites the young tea buds, and tea leaves will produce a specify type of antibody. After process into tea, it has an unique muscatel flavor, a sweet floral and fruity note.
This substance is called phytoalexin. During the fermentation process of tea leaves, the phytoalexin is oxidized to produce a sweet scent like Muscat. For Darjeeling tea in India, and Oriental Beauty in Taiwan, teas are harvested in summer like June to July, when many planthoppers appear so then can get this muscatel flavor. In Yunnan, it is lucky to have the same quality material that gives sweet honey-like flavor despite tea is harvested in early spring during March.
Tea from natural-farming garden gives a strong aftertaste with lingering sweetness down the throat. It's like having the wild herbs or vegetables, the taste is much thicker and richer. For example, what is the different of wild wasabi, wild ginseng compared to cultivated one? The cultivated plants always give a lighter taste. With natural farming tea, the quality of water improves drastically. The tea flows smoothly down the throat and you can feel like it immense into to the body. The lingering sweetness will last on palate for a long time too.
