What Is Red Tea?
Known as black tea in the West, red tea is one of the most commonly produced styles of loose leaf tea in the world. A well-made red tea, by definition, is fully fermented – all enzymes exhausted – making it the sweetest, smoothest category. A well-made red tea should not be unpleasantly astringent like many associates with a strong black tea. Instead, it’s naturally sweet with a full body and creamy tannins. Red teas are categorized by geography. It depends on where the tea comes from; rose, honey, malt, dry dates, and longyan are the exciting notes a good red tea promises to deliver.
History of Dian Hong
Origin: Da Su Shu, Da Li, Yun Nan Province, China (~2500-2600m elevation)
Dian is the one-word acronym for Yun Nan, Hong means black. Dian Hong means a red tea from Yun Nan Province of China. This special batch of red tea comes from an organic tea garden at a very high elevation. In addition to this being a naturally sweet and delicious red tea, it also offers added benefits to drinker’s neurological health.
Neurological Benefits
This tea is made with special innovation from Professor Zhou Hong Jie of Yunnan Agriculture University where the tea leaves were wilted in an oxygen-deprived environment to enrich its GABA content.
Tasting the 2020 Vintage
Notes we get from this early Spring vintage are sweetness, earthiness, tree bark, apple skin, and soft dates.
Share Our Passion
If you love this guided tasting, join us monthly with our Educational Tea Club! We deep dive into two teas a month over Zoom. You'll be able to participate live and ask questions and taste the tea together with our community.
Example Curriculum
What You'll Need
To get the most out of this session, we advise having a gong fu brewing set up ready to brew along with. A Gai Wan, Fairness Pitcher, Strainer, and Three Sip Cup is recommended.
You can purchase a full gong fu brewing kit here.
