Encounters in our finest Chinese teas

In our teas, you will sometimes come across improbable, interesting, surprising things...
A seed.
A plant fragment.
Sometimes even a trace of life.

These elements, far from being defects, are precious clues.
They tell a story: that of teas that have remained deeply connected to their original environment.

Our selections come from small artisanal productions, from remote regions, often unavailable outside of China and historically not intended for export.
These are authentic, minimally processed teas that retain the memory of their terroir.

Tea seeds, corn kernels, memory of terroirs

In certain Pu'erh, Liu Bao, Six Chateaux teas, or Liu An Cha, it is possible to find tea tree seeds, sunflower seeds, and sometimes even corn kernels.

These elements come directly from the traditional agricultural environment of mixed crops, non-industrialized ancient gardens, and proximity to food crops. In the Chinese countryside, tea grows in the heart of a living ecosystem, not in an isolated monoculture.

These presences are a reflection of natural agriculture, where tea coexists with its environment.

Stones and mineral fragments from sun-drying

Traditional Pu'erh is sun-dried, according to an ancient method.

The leaves are spread on mats, on cloths, or directly on natural surfaces. In these conditions, it can happen that stones or small mineral fragments get mixed with the tea. These traces bear witness to a simple, unindustrialized process, where human hands accompany nature without fully controlling it.

More rarely, I have had some pleasant surprises with certain old teas, finding bees, spiders, and insect carcasses in them.

These elements can appear during outdoor drying, during prolonged storage, and in open environments (attics, ventilated cellars, traditional storage). They confirm an essential reality: these teas have evolved in a real, living, unsterilized environment.

A tea born of sun and time.

The great Pu'erh teas from these small productions, whether raw (sheng) or cooked (shou), are living teas sun-dried, artisanally processed, and aged for years, sometimes decades. They are not static.
They breathe, evolve, transform.

During this process, the tea constantly interacts with: air, humidity, microorganisms, and its natural environment.

A free beauty.

Our aged teas exhibit an authentic aesthetic, far from industrial standards.

Each cake is unique. Each texture tells a story.

What might be perceived as an irregularity is actually a signature: that of a tea that has not been filtered, standardized, or corrected.

Nevertheless, it is essential to distinguish between natural elements and undesirable ones.

✔️ Natural and harmless (after rinsing the tea)
(it is always recommended to rinse / "awaken" the tea twice before brewing)

• stems, fibers
• seeds or plant fragments
• traces related to the environment

⚠️ Not recommended

• plastic fragments
• residues from synthetic mats used during transport

👉 A traditional tea is alive, but it must remain healthy.

The nobility of the real

These traces recall a fundamental truth: Pu'erh and Liu An Cha are not industrial products, but living materials. They are the result of a terroir, a climate, ancient know-how, and time.

An experience more than a tasting

Drinking a great Pu'erh from these rare productions means accepting a more direct relationship with reality.

It's discovering a tea that hasn't been transformed to please, but to exist.

A leaf.
A soil.
A climate.

A fragment of the Chinese countryside...

A moment suspended between earth, sun, and time.