Teas that taste like Earth - Earthy, woodsy, grassy, and ancient tasting teas?

Lapsang Souchong and any shu steeped for 5 min in boiling water like black tea instead of traditional Pu Erh steeping parameters.

Keemun Encore by Adagio (my canister is a little old; not sure if it’s been replaced by another variety) is earthy/grainy … kind of tastes like my grandma’s hay barn smelled.

Pu-erhs are pretty much the way to go for earthy teas, especially cooked ones. Beware fishy puerhs, they are too old or poor quality.

The Simple Leaf’s “Shanti” does a pretty good job of being a green earthy tea, you might enjoy that as well.

If you get high grade teas that aren’t blended with anything, they’re going to naturally taste very earthy and vegetal. As for specific teas, I’d recommend you try wuyi oolongs. They are higher oxidized and go through a heavier roasting period so they’ll be good and earthy without being heavy like a black tea or malty like a pu-erh.

One of my favorite earthy teas is Hojicha. I was able to pick some up in Japan a few years ago and still am drinking that batch, but you can get Big Green Hojicha from Republic of Tea. Here is their description:
Chop Wood Carry Water Tea—Flat roasted green leaves yield a tea with an earthy aroma and nutty flavor (the leaves turn brown during roasting). A classic tea rarely found outside of Japan.

I like the uncooked (sheng), aged, wet-stored pu erh. But you have to be careful. You want a red label tea that has been stored properly (i.e. not too humid or dry). I prefer a tea that has aged at least 20 years, but the older the better! If you like the earthy smoke though, you might want to aim for closer to 5-15 years old. The flavours are less refined and smooth.

I think Yerba Mates in general have a very earthy taste to them… try Guayaki Yerba Mate.

Bancha hojicha is SO earthy. Like drinking a pile of autumn leaves, or straight-up dirt.

Old warrior from crimson lotus and lumber slut from w2t are my goto wood fix. without breaking a budget.

Houjicha (wood, roasted twigs, leaf pile) and some shou meis taste like leaf pile in the best possible way (look for a leaf with a dark brown surface). The best shou mei looks like they got a bunch of random leaves from the leaf litter in a forest. Something that looks like this: https://cdn3.volusion.com/t7hmd.deme7/v/vspfiles/photos/WSM-001-2T.jpg