Collection
Wild Tea
Grown from indigenous tea trees rather than cultivated varietals, our wild teas are harvested in small quantities from high-altitude forest — untamed, mineral-rich, and full of character no plantation can replicate.
Field guide
Tea that nobody planted
Wild tea comes from indigenous, uncultivated tea trees that grow on their own in high forests rather than in neat garden rows. The leaves are foraged in small amounts, and the cup has a mineral depth and wild character that no plantation can copy.
What's inside
- Big Snow Mountain: black tea from ancient wild (ye sheng) tea trees on Da Xue Shan in Yunnan, China, foraged at 1,800 to 2,100 meters. Deep and honeyed.
- Shan Cha "Wild Mountain": black tea from Yuchi, Taiwan, made from the island's native wild tea, Camellia formosensis. Mineral and fruity.
What does wild tea taste like?
Big Snow Mountain is fruity and deep, with apricot, dried cranberry, cacao and tart cherry. Shan Cha is mineral and fruity, with wild honey, baked oats and tropical fruit.
How to brew wild tea
Both are black teas, so they take hot water and several steeps. Each product page lists its own timing, and our brewing guide covers the rest.
Questions
Is wild tea a different plant?
Sometimes. Taiwan's mountain tea is a native species of its own, Camellia formosensis, while Yunnan's wild trees are old, self-sown tea trees that have grown untended for generations.
Why is wild tea so limited?
The trees are scattered through forest, the leaves are picked by hand, and harvests are small.
What does "ye sheng" mean?
Ye sheng (野生) is Chinese for wild or undomesticated. It means tea from trees that grow on their own in the forest instead of in managed rows.
Does wild tea have caffeine?
Yes. Wild tea still comes from the tea plant, so it contains caffeine.
For more small-lot teas, explore Rare Tea and our other black teas.
