Location ( interactive map ) : Xishuangbanna – Menghai

Production : sheng puerh , white tea , black tea – shai hong

Annual output : 4 tons

Current selection in shop : Black Tea , White Tea , Sheng Puerh

Full selection of Zi Juan : here

Small Dai village not far from Menghai town. Tea plantations elevated around 1600m alt. mostly consist purple varietal tea leaf “zi juan” which is harvested and processed 3 times per year. Spring material is mostly used for sheng puerh and some black tea – sun dried , 2nd harvest for black tea with white tea.

Zi Juan – literally Purple Beauty , is a reputedly scarce purple-leaf Yunnan (云南) Da Ye (大叶) cultivar, high in Anthocyanin , which is a class of flavonoids, occurring in many plants, and lending a red or purple pigmentation to, among other things, autumn leaves; especially high in some tea cultivars and perhaps lending heightened florality to tea liquor made from those cultivars. The significance of this tea is also a herbal ( bitter-ish ) taste with distinctive notes of camomile ( especially in sheng puerh ).

The farmer has a small processing tea factory equipped with very old but functional machinery for drying , roasting and sorting the tea leaves.

The plantations are located in forest area not far from the village .