Ancient Haze

A unique Dianhong (Yunnan Black) made from the ancient, purple sprouting Ye Sheng tea variety. A bright and fruity brew rich in ‘Wild’ forest aromatics with rounded maltiness and a light, craft beer hoppiness.

We have tasted many purple sprouting Ye Sheng Black teas from Dehong but we have never purchased any because, while they are rich in their trademark fruity and forest notes, they lacked enough roundness to give the tea a proper balance. When we sampled this Ye Sheng Black from the semi-wild forests around Fengqing (a little further to the East of Dehong) we were smitten. Not only does it exhibit an incredible spectrum of high and bright aromatics like grapefruit, blackcurrant and mango, but it also has a comforting underbelly of malt and demerara rum. All of this is finished off with the most sublime, hoppy, craft beer style bitterness – nowhere near the same as some of those crazy hoppy IPA’s but moving into that direction.

This tea is made from the ancient tea variety often called Ye Sheng (which just means ‘wild growing’). Sometimes referred to as Assamica Dehongensis, this heirloom tea variety is super old, and is believed to have existed before the more commonly used Da Ye Zhong variety (which is already thousands of years old).

The tea trees picked for this tea are over 100 years old and are growing in semi-wild forests around the most famous Black tea village in Yunnan – Fengqing near Lincang.

So, we have ancient, heirloom variety tea picked from very old tea trees, growing in a very natural ancient forest ecosystem. This is the closest to the ‘Wild’ tea taste that you can get from Yunnan and it does not disappoint!

Wild aromatics define this tea experience making it a brew that has to be experienced, especially if you like your botanical cocktails of craft beers. But don’t worry, that Ye Sheng bitterness is beautifully composed and the finish in the mouth is sugarcane sweetness.