Dian Hong Yunnan Black Tea

Dian Hong is the black tea of Yunnan, first made in 1938 at Fengqing from the province's large-leaf tea. The leaf shows golden tips and the cup is rounded and sweet, with honey, sweet potato and cocoa. Brewed in a teapot at 93°C.

Origin & Story

Dian Hong is a young tea with a wartime beginning. In 1938, with Japan occupying China's coastal regions, the government needed a new place to make export tea, and it sent the tea expert Feng Shaoqiu to Yunnan. In Fengqing he found tall, vigorous tea trees, and his first trial batches went to Hong Kong, where they were judged among the finest black teas in China. Exports followed in 1939, and the name Dian Hong came soon after: dian is the short name of Yunnan and hong means red, the Chinese word for black tea.

Dian Hong is made from Yunnan's large-leaf tea, Camellia sinensis var. assamica, and what sets it apart from other Chinese black teas is the amount of fine bud in the dried leaf, the golden tips. Premium grades are robust and malty yet sweet and gentle, with little astringency.

Fengqing County, in the west of the province, is where the tea began, and sellers describe the cup as rich, mellow and sweet, with honey, fruit and sweet potato notes. A good Dian Hong gives eight to ten gongfu-style steeps.

Use water at about 93°C and 3 g of leaf for 240 ml, steep for two and a half to three and a half minutes in a teapot, and taste it plain.

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