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 Xiao Chi Gan
Origin: Gua Dun, Tong Mu, Wu Yi Shan mountains, Fu Jian Province, China (~1000-1300m elevation)
Chi Gan - no matter if “Da” or “Xiao”- is an unsmoked red tea from the same prestige terroir as the famous smoked red tea - Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong. Harvested from Tong Mu, one of the coldest tea terroirs in the world, Chi Gan showcases the sophisticated sweetness and unique brightness of a high mountain tea.
Da or Xiao?
Xiao means small. Xiao Chi Gan is made from more tender tea leaves. Da Chi Gan means big, red, and sweet, which speaks truthfully of what the tea is. It is a sweet red tea made from more mature tea leaves than Xiao Chi Gan.
Taste the 2021 Vintage
We taste notes of fresh longan and green dates with a high clarity of tender sweetness.
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 question 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.
