Then this batch of new black tea was shipped to Hong Kong within bamboo tea cages and then put on the market in wooden boxes and aluminum cans for sale. And surprisingly it was warmly welcomed by Hongkong customers. It has proved to be a successful tea and eventually named with it’s place of orgin (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 group of technicians from Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces were summoned to Yunnan to engage in Yunnan tea production. Some local tea farmers also often participated in the company's tea training courses, which indirectly provides human resources for the expanded reproduction of Yunnan black tea.

In 1940, Yunnan black teas were renamed as "Dianhong", and the name "Dianhong" has been in use ever since.

At present, Yunnan's Yunnan black tea production areas are mainly concentrated in more than 20 counties in six prefectures of Lincang, Baoshan, Simao, Xishuangbanna, Dehong and Honghe along the Lancang River in Yunnan.

Name:

Dianhong is the general name for Yunnan black teas.

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.

Tea Buds Of Yunan Dian Hong Black Tea

Yunnan

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.

Processing

Dry Leaves Of Yunnan Dian Hong Black Tea

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 / wilting

Withering is the first process of making black tea and the basic process of forming black tea quality. There are two purposes for withering: first,it aims to evaporate part of the water to facilitate rolling into strips and and allows a very slight amount of oxidation; Second, it is conducive to the change of internal chemical substances.It is important in promoting the breakdown of leaf proteins into free amino acids and increases the availability of freed caffeine, both of which change the taste of the tea.

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

The purpose of rolling has three: one is to destroy the tea green cell tissue by rolling, so that the tea juice can comes out;  Two is to knead loose leaves into a tight straight rope, reducing the size;  Third, to make the tea juice overflow and gather on the surface of the leaves, which can form a glossy and oily appearance and help to bring out the presentation of tea flavor when brewing.

4.Fermentation

This is the key step to form the special quality of black tea. The fermentation of black tea is generally carried out by placing the rolled tea leaves in the fermentation basket or fermentation workshop. The proper temperature, humidity and oxygen content required for the oxidative polymerization of tea polyphenolase should be well controlled during fermentation. It is generally required that the room temperature is 22~30 ℃ and the relative humidity is above 90%. Fermentation is the most critical step in the production of 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.

5.Drying

Drying is the last process of making black tea. It is generally carried out in two times. 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 foot fire. It has three purposes: one is to quickly inactivate enzyme activity with high temperature and prevent enzymatic oxidation, fixing the quality of fermentation. 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.