A Chinese-tea encyclopedia · since the leaf was medicine
The cup is old. The questions are not.
Seven classes of leaf, one mountain country, and the slow craft that decides what arrives in the cup. Read it like a friend who steeps, not a textbook.
7
classes of leaf
130+
varieties indexed
1
country · china only
0
blends, ever
The seven classes
Every leaf begins with how it was stopped, or let to turn.
Green to dark, the seven classes are not seven plants but seven decisions made at the wok and the drying mat. Start anywhere.
Green tea
lǜchá · 绿茶
The fresh class — grassy, sweet, kept green by fire.
White tea
báichá · 白茶
The quietest class — soft, downy, honeyed, slow to age.
Yellow tea
huángchá · 黄茶
The rarest class — a green softened, the edge taken off.
Red tea
hóngchá · 红茶
What the West calls black — malty, sweet, warming.
Dark tea
hēichá · 黑茶
The fermented class — earthy, smooth, made for the road.
Oolong tea
wūlóng · 乌龙茶
The craftsman's class — floral to roasted, endlessly varied.
Pu-erh tea
pǔ'ěr · 普洱茶
The aging class — a tea that becomes itself over decades.
Featured varieties
Start with a leaf people argue about.
Eight teas across the seven classes — each with its terroir, harvest, a tasting note and a brewing card you can follow tonight.
West Lake hills, Hangzhou, Zhejiang
West Lake Longjing
xīhú lóngjǐng · 西湖龙井
Toasted chestnut, sweet pea and a clean, almost buttery finish — gentle, never grassy-sharp.
Anji county, Zhejiang
Anji Bai Cha
ānjí báichá · 安吉白茶
Remarkably sweet and umami, with fresh bamboo, sweet corn and almost no bitterness.
Anxi county, Fujian
Tieguanyin
tiěguānyīn · 铁观音
Orchid and lilac on the nose, a creamy, buttery body and a long, sweet, faintly floral finish.
Wuyi mountains, Fujian
Da Hong Pao
dàhóngpáo · 大红袍
Roasted and mineral — dark caramel, stone fruit, cocoa and a long, warming finish with that wet-rock minerality.
Fuding and Zhenghe, Fujian
Baihao Yinzhen
báiháo yínzhēn · 白毫银针
Soft honey, melon and hay — delicate, sweet, with a cool clean finish and no edge at all.
Yunnan — the "Dian" of its name
Dianhong
diānhóng · 滇红
Malt, honey, cocoa and a hint of stone fruit — rich and rounded, with a smooth sweetness and almost no bitterness.
Yunnan — pressed and aged
Shou Pu-erh
shóu pǔ'ěr · 熟普洱
Damp earth, wet wood, dates and dark caramel — thick, smooth and round, with no bitterness and a soft sweet finish.
Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan — 1,000–1,600 m
Alishan Oolong
ālǐshān wūlóng · 阿里山乌龙
Lilac and fresh cream, sweet sugarcane and a soft, lingering floral finish — light-bodied and luminous.
The community
Tea is better with company.
A slow letter, a shared table, and the wider constellation of THE TEA — encyclopedia, atlas, ware and more.