Black · Xueshan Town, Yunnan, China
Organic "Big Snow Mountain" Wild Black Tea
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Tasting notes
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
About these tasting notes
These are the tasting notes we and others pick up most often. Palates vary, so you may catch some, all, or different ones — flavor is personal and subjective. Nothing is added: there are no added flavorings in this tea. Any notes you find developed naturally in the tea plant through rediscovered artisanal processing techniques.
Effects
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
About these effects
These are the effects people most often report from this tea. Bodies differ, so treat them as a common guide rather than a promise — most people notice at least one, but what you feel is personal.
The Prehistoric Wild Teas of Yunnan
Fun Fact: the ancestor of this tea cultivar dates back to the last glacial Ice Age about 22,000 years ago, making this possibly one of the oldest tea cultivars in the world!
Crafted from the primeval Ye Sheng (野生) varietal—a naturally bug-repellent, non-hybridized ancestor that pre-dates standard Camellia sinensis—this wild tea grows untouched in the ancient forests of Lincang’s historic, certified organic Big Snow Mountain (Da Xue Shan). Foraging at high altitudes of 1800 - 2100 meters requires harvesting scattered wild trees rather than neat rows of cultivated bushes. Mid-March hand-harvesting yields a product with a profound potency in cha qi that simply cannot be replicated by industrially farmed cultivars.
Unlike typical heavily oxidized black teas, a deliberately light wilting leaves natural green tones intact, brewing a lovely amber golden-yellow liquor. This comes from the unique and time-consuming fermentation process wherein the leaves are not completely oxidized to 100%, but rather 90%, requiring a vigilant eye, and artisan knowledge. The resulting cup is complex and indulgent, layered with notes of dried fruit, cocoa powder, and barrel-aged rum, finishing with a light, sweet clarity - something closer to an oolong than a typical black tea. Because this ancient tea cultivar yields so little and is exceptionally difficult to harvest, production for this micro-batch is strictly capped at only 70 kilograms total.
Most wild teas of this caliber are claimed immediately by domestic connoisseurs and never leave Yunnan, or are unable to provide Organic Certification, this tea has both, making this a genuinely elite find for collectors.
Notes from Staff: This is a vibrant and robust tasting tea sure to really expand your experience in the world of black teas! Very few people will ever get the chance to taste Yunnan’s wild tea, so its highly recommend to compare this with our "Shan Cha" Wild tea from Taiwan for a great tea session! Tastes a bit like a delicious Dan Cong oolong.
Old Mountain Tea Guarantee
Our teas are guaranteed free from harmful chemicals. We source directly from small, clean family farms that take real pride in their work — no middlemen, no anonymous blends. Many of these teas are bug-bitten, and leafhoppers only feed on gardens grown without pesticides, so the leaf itself is living proof the garden is clean. Every tea is grown to organic standards and traceable to the farm that made it.
Certified Organic — USDA & EU
Origin & Terroir
- Cultivar
About this cultivar
Ye Sheng (野生), meaning "Wild Tree," is Yunnan's primeval purple-leaf tea, botanically classified as Camellia sinensis var. dehungensis and positioned at the base of the cultivated assamica clade in genomic phylogenies. Unlike the purple-leaf cultivars it's often confused with — Zi Ya, a spontaneous mutation in planted trees, and Zi Juan, a deliberate 1990s hybrid — Ye Sheng has no breeding history and evolved in isolated high-altitude stands across Dehong, Fengqing, and Jinggu. It serves as the unspecialized ancestral stock from which Yunnan's three major assamica gene pools (Pu'er, Lincang, and Xishuangbanna) independently diverged, making it the common genetic parent of virtually all Yunnan pu-erh. Its raw young leaf is notoriously bitter and astringent, but it rewards long aging with a depth no selected cultivar quite replicates.
- Ye Sheng(野生) (literally, "undomesticated", "wild")
- Status
About this status
Rare Provenance
- Very Rare
- Processing method
- Hong Cha(紅茶)
- Charcoal roast level
- 0%
- Region
- Xueshan Town, Fengqing County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, China
- Harvest
- Spring 2026
- Elevation
- 1900 meters
- Climate
- Cool, Temperate, Humid
- Oxidation level
What oxidation level means
Oxidation is what turns green tea into oolong or black tea — as leaves are bruised and rested, enzymes react with oxygen and deepen their color and flavor. Green tea sees almost none; oolong ranges widely; black tea is oxidized fully.
- Picking style
Why picking style matters
Hand-plucking means workers select each bud and leaf by touch, one at a time — far slower and more expensive than machine harvesting, but gentler on the leaf. As labor costs rise, fewer gardens still pick this way, making hand-plucked tea increasingly rare.
- Hand Plucked
- Bug-bitten level
- 0%
How to brew it
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 20 seconds
Each infusion after · add 15 sec
Up to 12 infusions
Leaf · 5 g
Water · purified soft water, freshly boiled
First infusion · 2 minutes
Second infusion · 5 minutes
Third infusion · 10 minutes
