With the continuous improvement of processing technology, the varieties of Dianhong have been innovated, and many new varieties have been created, among which the red snail black tea is the outstanding one.  

Our organic red snail black tea come from organic tea gardens in Yunnan Province, and  it has undergone rigorous organic product testing.  Organic teas are made from tea leaves that are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemicals. For more on organic tea, check out the information at the bottom of this page.

For consumers who are concerned about the environmental impact of their food and beverage choices, or who are looking for a healthier option, this organic tea is a great choice.

Yunnan 

Yunnan Province is located in the southwestern part of China and is the country's most diverse province in terms of geography and ethnicity. The province covers a large area of about 394,000 square kilometers and is known for its stunning natural scenery, including mountains, plateaus, valleys, and lakes. Yunnan Province is one of the main tea-producing regions in China, with a long history of tea cultivation. The province has a favorable climate, fertile soil, and diverse geography, making it ideal for the growth of a variety of tea plants.  Dianhong, a famous historical tea, was created in 1939 and produced in southwest Yunnan. It is a rising star of Chinese Gongfu black tea. Dianhong is short for Yunnan black tea, mainly produced in Fengqing, Yunxian, Baoshan, Xishuangbanna, Pu-erh, etc.

Beautiful Yunnan

How many kinds of black tea are there?

Since Yunnan black tea was born on that day, its variety has been increasing continuously. With the continuous improvement of processing technology and the increase of newly cultivated varieties of tea trees, new types of Dian Hong are emerging.It is not easy to figure out how many types of Yunnan black tea are available in the market. Some Yunnan black teas are named after the tree species, some after the origin, some after the raw material, such as bud black teas, some after the shapes such as some Yunnan black teas on our website are needle shaped, silk shaped, spiral shaped. It is difficult to directly distinguish the quality of tea from its name, because each kind of tea has its fans. We can try several kinds slowly to find the one we like.

History

Yunnan black tea is called Dianhong （Diān hóng 滇红） for short, which belongs to black tea category. It was first produced by tea farmers in the 1930s.

In September 1938, commissioner Zheng Hechun and technician Feng Shaoqiu were sent by the China Tea Company to Yunnan Province to investigate tea production and marketing in Yunnan.

They arrived in Fengqing in November and found that Fengshan in Fengqing County has good natural conditions for the growth of tea trees, so they began trial - producing black tea in Fengqing.

Through continuous efforts, in 1939, the first batch of 500 tons (China weight unit, one load is equal to 50 kilograms) of Yunnan red was successfully trial-produced.

The mountains of Yunnan

Then the new batch of black tea was transported to Hong Kong within bamboo tea cages, and then put on the market in wooden cases and aluminum cans. Surprisingly, it was warmly welcomed by customers in Hong Kong. It has proved to be a successful tea and eventually named with its place of origin (Dian Hong) by Mr. Feng.

In order to further expand the production of Yunnan black tea.In early 1939, Feng Shaoqiu was ordered to build Fengqing Tea Factory (then called Shunning Experimental Tea Factory). At the same time, a large number of technical personnel from Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces were called to Yunnan to engage in tea production in Yunnan.

Some local tea farmers often take part in the company's tea training courses, which indirectly provides human resources for yunnan black tea to expand reproduction.

In 1940, yunnan black tea changed its name to "Dianhong", and the name "Dianhong" has been used ever since.At present, yunnan black tea production areas are mainly concentrated in more than 20 counties in six prefectures along the Lancang River in Yunnan, namely Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong and Honghe.

Tea garden in Yunnan after rain

Characteristics

There are many kinds of Yunnan black teas, each of which has its own characteristics. Indeed, It is really difficult to describe the characteristics of each Yunnan black tea. On the whole, the appearance of DianHong tea is fine and tender covered by golden hairy tips. When steeping, it produces a brew that is brassy golden orange in colour with a sweet, gentle aroma,clean and lingering. At the same time, a sweet aftertaste quickly rise from the throat. Yunnan black tea has special sweet taste profile with minor variations based on types.

Growing environment

Normally, the areas where Yunnan black tea grow are all mountainous and fluctuant, affected by subtropical climate, with an average altitude of over 1,000m, annual average temperature of 18-22 ℃, annual accumulated temperature of more than 6000 ℃. These areas are abundant in rain, with annual precipitation of 1200-1700mm. In addition, the cloudy mountains are also very conducive to the growth of Yunnan black tea. More, high-quality black tea plantations are part of the forest itself. The deciduous grass in forest forms a deep humus layer, and the forest soil is fertile, which makes the tea trees tall, the buds are strong and the leaves are fertile. Even tea leaves grow to 5-6 leaves, they are still soft and tender. It is said that the content of polyphenols, alkaloids and other ingredients in Dianhong ranks first in China's tea.

The fine hairs on the surface of young leaves

Processing

Black tea is divided into Gongfu black tea, souchong (xiaozhong) black tea and broken black tea (CTC). The processing steps of each tea are slightly different.Their basic production process is: picking/Plucking - withering - kneading/rolling - fermentation - drying - screening  - packaging.

1.Plucking

The harvesting of Yunnan black tea usually starts from mid-March to mid-November and lasts about 8 months. Spring tea picked from mid-March to mid-May accounts for 55% of the total annual output, summer tea from mid-May to mid-August accounts for about 30% of the whole year and the production of autumn tea from late August to mid-November accounts for about 15% of the annual production. The standards for picking varies according to the different tea grades. Considering the quality and output, one bud and two or three leaves are picked, except that one bud and one leaf are required for super grade Yunnan black tea.

2.Withering 

Withering is the first working procedure of black tea production and the basic process of forming the quality of black tea. Withering has two purposes: first, its purpose is to evaporate some water so as to be rolled into strips and allows a very small amount of oxidation; Second, it is beneficial to the change of internal chemical. It plays an important role in promoting the decomposition of leaf proteins into free amino acids and increases the availability of free caffeine, both of which will change the taste of the tea.

3.Rolling (Chinese: 揉捻; pinyin: róu niǎn)

There are three purposes of kneading: first, the green cell tissue of tea is destroyed by kneading, so that the tea juice flows out; Second, the loose leaves are kneaded into a tight straight rope to reduce the size; Thirdly, make the tea juice overflow and gather on the surface of the leaves, which can form a glossy and oily appearance, which is helpful to bring out the tea flavor when brewing.

3.Fermentation

This is the key step to forming the unique quality of black tea. The fermentation of black tea is generally to put the twisted tea into a fermentation basket or fermentation workshop for fermentation. The suitable temperature, humidity and oxygen content for the oxidative polymerization of tea polyphenols should be controlled well in the fermentation process. Generally, the room temperature is 22 ~ 30℃, and the relative humidity is above 90%. Fermentation is the most crucial step in the process of making black tea. In this step, polyphenolic compounds undergo profound changes to form theaflavins, thearubigins, and theafuscin, which make black tea have the characteristics of red soup, red leaves, and sweet taste.

4.Shaping

This technology is not the standard technology for making black tea. If we want black tea to have some unique shapes, such as our spiral tea, we need to use machines or hand to shape fermented tea into various shapes we need.

5.Drying

Drying is the last working procedure of making black tea. Generally, it has to be done twice. The first drying is called 毛火 (rough fire), and the second drying is called 足火 (full fire). There should be a gap between the rough fire and the full fire. It has three purposes: First, quickly inactivate the activity of enzyme with high temperature, prevent enzymatic oxidation, and fix the fermentation quality. The second is to further evaporate water,fix shape,maintain quality. Third, remove the smell of grass and retain the unique sweet smell of black tea.

Organic Tea Standards

Organic tea is a kind of pollution-free and pure natural tea

Organic tea uses natural green fertilizer in the planting process, and adopts biological or physical methods to prevent and control diseases and insect pests. It is based on natural farming, and it is not allowed to use any chemically synthesized pesticides and fertilizers. Chemical additives are not used in the processing of organic tea. In the whole production and processing process, organic tea keeps the most complete aroma and taste of tea, and at the same time, it minimizes the pollution to the environment. Organic tea is produced in accordance with the standards of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and has passed the organic certification of the Organic (Natural) Food Certification Organization.

Some of approved certifying organisations:

United States	USDA
European Union	ECO-CERT,  European Commission
Australia	NASAA ,  ACO
France	ECO-CERT , COSMEBIO
UK	SOIL ASSOCIATION

You can find your favorite organic teas in Teapooo. We make a commitment that the organic teas we provide are grown and produced without any chemical synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, and without any chemical additives in the production of organic tea. Our organic teas come from trusted and reputable organic tea suppliers in China, and has undergone our strict examination. Our primary goal is to provide delicious and healthy organic teas to tea lovers around the world. The organic teas we supply have been certified by one or more certifying organisations (such as JAS, USDA, ECO-CERT, NASAA, etc) and obtained the certificates issued by them. You can find copies of these certificates on our product detail pages.