PROFILE: HERBS, FOREST FLOOR, DRIED VEGETABLES, SPICE, WARM, COMPLEX, SHENG-STYLE

ORIGIN: SIN CHAI,DIEN BIEN, VIETNAM

HARVEST: APRIL 2024

Mountain Genie dark tea is the first ever tea that we have sourced from Dien Bien province. The most northerly and westerly of Vietnam’s provinces, Dien Bien borders both Yunnan and Laos.

Produced in the Sin Chai commune of Tua Chua district close to the Black River and west of the towering Hoang Lien Son mountain range, the area experiences a unique climate with a dryer spring season that other parts of the northern mountains but with a much wetter summer. Climate and a rocky soil dictate the character of the tea, which can only be processed small quantities in spring and late autumn when conditions provide enough opportunity for leaves to dry in the sun.

H’Mong families are the custodians of the wild tea trees that grow in the forests of Sin Chai. It is they who trek into the mountains and gather the leaves for processing. Tea undergoes a short wither, is stirred in the pan for 20 – 30 minutes, hand rolled and left to sun dry.

Mountain Genie is a sheng style dark tea with notes of the mossy forest floor and fresh tobacco leaves together with hints of orange blossom and light smoke. Full bodied, smooth in the throat with excellent finish and aftertaste.