This tea is a relatively new addition to my daily-drinker rotation. It has a bit of a story behind it; a mixture of craftsmanship, government targeted growth, and corporate philanthropy. This tea is 雷山红梅茶 (Léishān Hóngméi Chá, Leishan Red Plum Tea). Leishan is in a very economically depressed area of China and is a target for economic development. For this, it works with the philanthropic division of the Alibaba Group. That group tends to go into areas, identify possibilities for enhancing the economics, then helps set up the infrastructure needed to capitalize on it. In Guizhou the obvious economic choice in the mountains is tea; Guizhou tea plantations are in high-quality terroir, but for a variety of reasons is not often consumed outside of Guizhou (part of it being transportation). This tea is a Leishan clone of a famous tea: 九曲红梅茶 (Jiǔqū Hóngméi Chá, Jiuqu Red Plum tea) which itself has a fascinating story I will someday explore. It is currently the only "red" (we'd say "black") tea of the 28 famous teas of Zhejiang. It has a famous processing of withering, rolling, oxidization, and drying. And masters from Zhejiang were hired to teach the tea producers of Leishan how to do the same with their own tea. The result is an intriguing tea that has the floral notes you'd expect from a high-mountain Chinese red like a Dianhong, but with a walnut-astringent overlay that tastes, of all things, like a high-grade Assam. Because it's part of a development program, it is sold at subsidized prices (with the Alibaba Group making up the difference as part of their philanthropy) under new production and distribution infrastructure, all as part of establishing the tea in the broader tea culture of China; I'm evidence of the process working. #茶 #中国茶 #贵州茶 #雷山茶 #红茶 #Tea #ChineseTea #GuizhouTea #LeishanTea #BlackTea As usual the alt text contains more information. Also, Mastodon users will probably have to click through to see all six photographs.