108 Classic Red Tea

When I think of batch number108, the first thing that comes to mind is the dark night sky brightened by myriads of stars — beautiful and poetic. We were making this tea all during April and May. We usually began the processing of withered leaves after lunch, and would finish drying late at night. I would come out of the factory about 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning, like a night watchman, and feel the calmness and the fresh night breeze. Everyone around was asleep except the singing crickets and the flittering moths caught for a moment in the light of a lamp.

The raw material for this tea was collected from the tea plantations north and west of Phongsali. Although we produced a large quantity of it, the selection of tea leaves was done very carefully, according to the highest quality standards. We used a classic technology to make this Tea, so named it Classic Red Tea.

In Chinese languages and the languages of neighboring countries, the name «red tea» refers to the color of the liquid. The Western term «black tea» refers to the color of the oxidized leaves. Do not mistake it for rooibos, a South African tisane