Organic Tianmu Ming Dynasty

About this tea

Organic tea is produced without the input of chemical fertilizers or pesticides and herbicides. The yield per acre is lower compared to when fertilizers and others inputs are utilized. Nevertheless, with good manufacturing techniques the cup characteristics can be maintained at a high level - such is the case with this tea. The two peaks of Mt. Tianmu are famous for its scenery and misty covered slopes. The tea bushes grow in the valleys, where it is misty 3/4's of the time (tea cannot grow on the summit because it is too windy). This gives the tea its unmistakable taste and visual appearance. This tea is manufactured under shou-mei principles, those being: sun-dried and subjected to a minimum amount of processing so the tea's color and aroma are as close as possible to those of fresh leaves. You can see evidence of this in the leaf appearance - the leaves are virtually whole with many bud sets and slight 'hairy' down, indicative of very careful hand rolling and superior hand sorting. The Ming Dynasty ruled China between 1368 and 1644, almost 300 years. Under its rule a very important institution, The Horse and Tea Bureau, played a vital role in the economy. The demand for tea became so great it ranked as one of the empire's most valuable commodities. The Bureau became responsible for battering tea for horses. They created incentives for the farmers to grow tea by reducing the tax to 1% (the farmers would allocate 1% of their crop to the state). It was during the Ming Dynasty that tea was first introduced to Europe. For a time, rumors circulated in Europe that tea weakened a person's vitality and was being exported from China to sap the energy from it potential enemies. Ironically, it would come to pass that England would trade opium for tea - opium truly sapping the energies of those that used the drug.