It's All About Tea — aged tea

Today, we invite He Jin - a local producer of Tibetan black tea, and our proud supplier - for a chat. She will teach us on the various types of this chinese fermented tea, and will share tips and tricks on storage and brewing methods in order to get the most out of this artisan tea.

He Jin lives in Ya'an city, where she's been engaged in Tibetan tea production for quite a few years now. She creates fine-quality Yaxi Tibetan tea in loose-leaf form and the region's signature Tibetan Jasmine tea. (Read more)

Tibetan black tea is made from more mature tea leaves. The picking standard for it includes a bud and up to five leaves. Modern days processing includes typical steps for producing Hei Cha – fixing, rolling, wet piling (Wo Dui – 渥堆), drying, steaming, pressing, and finally, aging. While the processing changed with time, some believe it is namely Tibetan tea that precedes all other types of Hei Cha and served as a model for all subsequent Hei Cha production and processing in other areas of China. 

Tibetan tea processing includes 5 stages and a total of 32 processing steps. The aging period alone requires a minimum of 6 months. Some claim its production process is the most intricate and time-consuming among all tea types. (Read more)

Following up from last time, here’s the second part of our blog post, dedicated to storing and aging Pu-erh tea. We talk about the phase of transitioning from wet to dry Pu-erh. We explore the advantages of dry over wet storage and give an answer on whether wet storage is good or bad after all.

You will learn the two essential factors that guarantee effective storage for your tea cakes. You will also understand how the shape influences the storage. Finally, you will learn the best ways to store tea at home, depending on its shape and quantity. Let’s dive in! (Read more)