The whole range of these handmade teas deserves to be tried. They are intriguingly varied in character but are all surprisingly rich, sweet and malty with subtle chocolatey undertones and make wonderful breakfast teas. Amongst them, you will find teas seldom seen outside of China and batches made to our specific specification. Most of them are suitable for taking with milk but are equally at home without. The brewing procedure is quite different though, depending on which method you opt for. If you take them with milk brew them like an Assam, for between 5-7 minutes. If you prefer it without milk, brew for two minutes and then using the same leaves you can brew once or twice again. The difference in flavour is most beguiling.
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As low as £31.00The Chen family’s Rou Gui carries the warmth of cinnamon bark and the cool breath of stone. Now transformed into black tea, it deepens into honeyed fruit, plum and cocoa, a fire lit sweetness that lingers.
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As low as £33.00From Yunnan’s high forest, century-old wild trees yield a spring leaf of silk and shadow. In the cup, warm brown liquor lifts violet-date fragrance, with berry, cassis, and plum unfolding into a lingering, mountain-bright finish.
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As low as £31.00An unusual flat, smooth leaf in the style of Long Jing green tea, that is worked by hand in a wok. It grows on the 'big leaf' tea tree, in common with our Tea of Life, in the Fujian Province. A rich tasting, fruity liquor with a lingering aroma of chocolate and fresh raspberries.
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As low as £16.00This is the best grade of the black teas called Fuchow, hence the name 'Monkey King'. You can tell from its appearance with the abundant tips and golden hairs that it will be a rich, smooth tea with a complex character. It is predominantly malty in character with notes of cocoa and according to some of our customers a hint of ginger. Extremely exclusive and a current Imperial favourite.
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As low as £26.00The Ling family's Golden Peony drifts like silk through the cup, whispers of orchid and peach rise on the steam. Sweetness lingers as honey, figs, and caramel unfold, touched by a comforting, lingering warmth that carries on long after the last sip.
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As low as £17.00This rare tea treasure is from the fertile gardens in the high mountains of Fujian province. It is a new variety of black tea produced from a new hybrid created to produce a new type of oolong tea. The idea was to combine the buttery, alpine character of Tie Guan Yin with the osmanthus scent of Huang Jin Gui. The tightly twisted, black leaf with fine silvery-gold tips gives a deliciously sweet, smooth, exceptionally flavoured drink with hints of fruit and pepper. It is made entirely by hand from young tips that are withered, twisted, oxidised then dried and shaped before the final sorting is done.
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As low as £21.00This Jin Jun Mei is currently the second most expensive black tea in China, with shops selling the slightly higher grade for prices up to $1600 for 100g. It has soared in both popularity and cost since it was created in 2005 by Mr Jiang Yuan Xun, the general manager of Wu Yi Zheng Shan tea company. This leaves the tea to develop a complex character, with aromas of fruit, flower, honey, caramel and malt with a wisp of smoke.
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As low as £22.00
One of the world's best black teas and one from our range with a deeply devoted following. It is deliciously complex in flavour with a rich liquor that makes it a perfect breakfast tea. This is Lion Mountain's finest offering, although only a very small quantity is made. It has a complex, smooth, malty flavour and golden infusion, with a beautifully handcrafted leaf. A superb tea that can take milk and makes a delightful afternoon drink. Hao Ya is one of China's 'Famous Ten' teas.
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As low as £8.00This Keemun from the Lion Mountain in Anhui province to the west of Shanghai is the next highest grade after the Hao Ya teas. Its flavour is malty with a subtle hint of fruit and its famed aroma is compared to orchid, rose and chocolate, which is also evident in the infusion. A very reasonably priced tea for its high quality.
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As low as £18.00This is one of the rarest and finest of China's black teas, indeed the world's. It is a tea master produced, organically grown, long tender leaf variety from the Lion Mt. in Qi'Men with a light bodied, honey-sweet, chocolate malt infusion. It is a tea with a pronounced flavour yet with very little tannin and makes a good afternoon or early evening tea. It is made with the first golden down covered buds of spring, full of nutrition, picked before the Chinese Qing Ming festival. To put this wonderful tea's rarity into context it would make just 200,000 of the U.K's yearly consumption of 60,225,000,000 cups! Remember this is just the U.K, my calculator didn't have enough digits to work out the world's consumption! We can never get enough of this tea to last the year so try it while you can.
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As low as £18.00The leaves used to make Magic Dragon Pearls are from the highest-grade spring teas. The leaves are hand picked and hand rolled and made from the Huacha varietal. The liquor is smooth, rich and naturally sweet with subtle chocolate and raisin notes..
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As low as £14.00The Wang family's Tie Guan Yin transformed. Orchid deepens into velvet shadow, fruit ripened, cocoa whispering at the edges, warmed by honey and dried fruit. This black tea offers a quiet hymn of the mountains, smooth and resonant, lingering long.
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As low as £8.00A blend not dissimilar to our Russian Caravan but with the addition of some Tarry Lapsang Souchong. In truth, this recipe is closer to the original 'Russian Caravan' flavour which has changed over the years to suit the British palate. One can, however, imagine this tea brewing on top of a steaming Samovar and listening to Alexander Pushkin reciting his poems. The malty, chocolate notes of the two non-smoked components of the blend are complemented by the sweet, smoked pine fragrance.
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As low as £21.00In southern Yunnan, Jin Xuan leaves are plucked under summer’s rain and heat, then shaped with Taiwanese craft into a tea of sweetness and depth. Its liquor is silky and golden, with roasted stone fruit, honey, and pomelo lingering like the season itself.
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As low as £25.00In Tian Xin village, where mist drapes the Wuyi Shan cliffs, the Fan family pluck golden-tipped leaves with devotion. Their Golden Monkey shimmers with honeyed sweetness, stone fruit, caramel, and cocoa—an enduring song of mountain, family, and time.
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As low as £8.00The original and best grade of this famous smoky tea is grown in a nature reserve. It is smoked naturally with the authentic Chinese pine root and is gentle, clear and full flavoured.
