The Charm of Fengqing Dian Hong

Fengqing Dian Hong tea, as a representative of the world’s Dian Hong hometown, has emerged in the tea world with its unique charm. Although its appearance is simple and unadorned, its taste after brewing is amazing. The long-lasting and refreshing aroma, mellow and refreshing flavor seems to awaken the memories of the taste buds. Each sip contains a high and rich aroma, with a long, smooth and delicate sweet aftertaste, full of flavor and sweetness. In the many Dian Hong tea, Fengqing Dian Hong undoubtedly with its excellent quality, has become a well-deserved “China Red” Dian Hong tea in the leader.

Superior Natural Environment

Fengqing County, located in the southwestern part of Yunnan Province, has the unique conditions of the central subtropical monsoon climate. It is known as “as high as the mountains, as high as the water, dry and cool in the same season, rain and heat in the same period, no cold in the east, no heat in the summer, and four seasons like spring”, which provides a unique environment for the growth of tea trees. Tea trees need light, water, altitude and other conditions in this place can be perfectly satisfied.

There is plenty of light, rainfall is abundant and evenly distributed, and the temperature is maintained within the appropriate range, with almost no obvious natural disasters. The temperature difference throughout the year is relatively small, while the daily temperature difference is large, so the climate conditions are very favorable to the growth of tea trees. It is worth mentioning that Fengqing experiences a slight drought before the spring tea season, but this instead helps to improve the quality of the spring tea.

The weather characteristics of dry and cool in the same season enable the tea trees to fully store and accumulate contents; while during the rainy season, the rain and heat coincide with each other, further promoting the growth of the tea trees. In addition, the light here is abundant but not intense, which is exactly conducive to the quality of the tea trees. When the spring tea season arrives, due to the rapid warming in the early part of the season, the quality of spring tea is also relatively high and abundant.

Exceptional Tea Tree Varieties

Fengqing, as the hometown of Yunnan Big Leaf Tea, is highly regarded for its unique Fengqing Big Leaf Tea Tree variety. Recognized by the state as an excellent variety, this tea tree demonstrates its superior quality with its rich substance, long and broad leaf buds, dense velvet hairs, and plump leaf flesh. In Fengqing County, more than one hundred years of Fengqing large-leaf tea trees abound, they for Dian Hong tea “high flavor” characteristics added a colorful. Even a tea king with 3,000 years of age is quietly telling its legendary story on this land.

Exquisite Tea Making Craftsmanship

Picking fresh leaves is the first step in tea making. In Fengqing, the people have a deep affection for tea, and they carefully pick each piece of the heavenly buds to ensure its superior quality. After picking, the fresh leaves are sent to the black tea factory within 90 minutes to prevent changes in taste caused by oxidation over time. This extreme pursuit of time and quality is precisely the Fengqing people’s dedication and love for Dian Hong tea.

The second process: withering. This is a crucial step in shaping the unique aroma of black tea. In Fengqing, the traditional constant temperature withering method of 8 hours at 25℃ is used to carefully spread the tea leaves into a thin layer, ensuring that the tea leaves can fully come into contact with the air. Such a process not only gives black tea its rich sweet aroma, but also brings the necessary freshness to its flavor.

Third process: kneading. This step usually takes between 70 and 90 minutes to complete. The purpose of kneading is to break down the cellular tissue of the tea leaves to prepare for the subsequent fermentation process. Only by sufficiently kneading can we ensure that more than 80% of the cellular tissues of the leaves are destroyed, so that the tea juice will overflow during the kneading process, but will not flow down in drops.

The fourth process: fermentation. After 4 hours of traditional fermentation at a constant temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, the color of the tea leaves gradually turns from green to red, and the grassy air is fully dissipated. This step is crucial to the formation of black tea’s unique color, aroma and flavor. Only under good fermentation conditions can more theaflavin and theobromin be produced, thus bringing richer flavor and aroma to black tea.

The fifth process: drying. After the tea leaves are dried at a constant temperature of 100℃ for 1 hour, the water is able to dissipate rapidly, while the enzyme activity is blunted by the high temperature, thus stopping the further fermentation of multi-enzymes. This step not only radicalizes the high boiling point and aromatic substances in the tea, but also brings the unique floral and fruity-sweet aroma to black tea.The fifth process: drying. After the tea leaves are dried at a constant temperature of 100℃ for 1 hour, the water is able to dissipate rapidly, while the enzyme activity is blunted by the high temperature, thus stopping the further fermentation of multi-enzymes. This step not only radicalizes the high boiling point and aromatic substances in the tea, but also brings the unique floral and fruity-sweet aroma to black tea.

The sixth process: picking. This step is carried out manually to delicately remove inferior, foreign and non-tea inclusions from the tea leaves, thus ensuring the purity and hygiene of the black tea product.

Fengqing Dian Hong Tea, with 3,000 years of tea king heritage, blossoms Chinese red at the top of Dian Hong. When the amber tea soup awakens the memory of the taste buds, the high and strong aroma and long sweetness hide the sunshine gene of Yunnan large-leaf tea trees. Each bud here has gone through 8 hours of constant temperature withering, 4 hours of traditional fermentation, in the hands of tea makers to quench the soul of “high flavor”, the achievement of the tea industry recognized as excellent quality.