2025 Chinese Tea Bags

To cater to the busy life of the city dweller, we have made tea bags using loose leaf teas from our curated tea list, as well as some new teas. As such, they are not inferior quality teas, but rather good quality tea packed in tea bags. 

We have 5 tea bags, of which 3 are already on our tea list:

- 2025 Pre-Qingming Harvest En Shi Jade Dew 明前恩施玉露
- 2025 Spring First Pick Tie Guan Yin - Light Roasted 头采铁观音乌龙春茶 (清香型)
- 2025 Spring First Pick Tie Guan Yin - Dark Roasted 头采铁观音乌龙春茶 (浓香型)


We have two new teas - Li Chuan Red (利川红) red tea and Chang Sheng Chuan (长盛川) black tea - which we will introduce below.

Li Chuan Gongfu Red Tea is produced in the vicinity of Li Chuan City of Hubei (湖北). It is usually abbreviated as Li Chuan Red (利川红), its name referencing to Li Chuan city as its production base and it being a Chinese red tea. A Chinese red tea is heavily oxidised and produces a red liquor. The term Gongfu is often applied to the making of Chinese red teas. A term that conveys skills and effort, Chinese red tea production requires higher technical skills, including heavy oxidation and wet fermentation. While traditional tea making reduces moisture in the tea as it nears completion, Chinese red tea reintroduce moisture midway in the processing.

While northern China prefers green teas and southern China prefers wulong teas, red teas are meant for the export market. Since the mid 19th century, red teas were exported to the British market. About two decades before this in 1823, Scottish army officer Robert Fortune found wild tea in Upper Brahmaputra Valley near Rangpur (near present Sib Sagar in Assam) during a trading mission. This was a significant discovery which could allow Britain to break the tea monopoly of the Qing dynasty by supplying their market from their own colony of India. However, having tried both the teas, the British royalties still preferred the teas from China, allowing the Qing government a valuable source of foreign exchange at a time of decline of the dynasty. 

The Chinese red tea is often referred as a black tea in western terms. The differing nomenclature stems from historical differences. All teas were historically shipped out from southern Chinese ports, which speaks a dialect that refers to such teas as dark-coloured teas due to their leaf colour. This vernacular was then transmitted to western world. In 1950s when China classified all teas based on their processes into 6 classes, such teas became known as red tea based on the red liqour.

This tea bag is made by the same factory which makes our Enshi Jade Dew green tea and Enshi matcha. We have visited their factories to observe their production lines. 

Each tea bag is 2g, and can be brewed in a 200ml mug with 90°C water, steeping for 1 min. The tea is of vibrant reddish colour, and smells of sweet and woody notes. In the cup, it has a clean fruity note - usually described as stonefruits like peach, sweet without unpleasant astringency or bitterness, on a light body. It has slight acidity, and hints of a lemon aroma. The afterflavour is clean and sweet. The tea bags can be rebrewed with residual sweetness and woodiness, and still without astringency and bitterness.

Chinese always say that black tea is a drinkable antique. Chang Sheng Chuan black tea is indeed such an antique, being produced by tea company that was established during the founding of the Ming dynasty in year 1368. An incredible 650 years of history, the company is now helmed by the 19th generation descendant since the founder He De Hai (何德海). It is an Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, and definitely a witness to and heritage of human development. It started on a good footing, becoming a royal tribute tea during the 300 years of Ming dynasty and then 300 years of Qing dynasty. The demand for tea rapidly expanded during these years, bringing the tea to Eurasian regions. The Great Tea Road gradually formed, starting from Wuyi mountain of Fujian towards Russia in the north and central Asian and eastern Europe in the west. During its peak, there were more than 260 sub-brands to cater to its numerous distribution lines. The Ming royal court deemed it as its representative brand, bestowing it a royal trademark in the form of a double red dragon for display on its tea packaging outside of the empire. 

Tang dynasty tea saint Lu Yu (陆羽) in his Classic of Tea (茶经) endorsed the superiority of the tea from that region, previously known as Xia Zhou (峡州, "山南以峡州上"). Historian Ouyang Xiu (欧阳修) of the Song dynasty sang praises of the tea, calling it the best tea according to the Classic of Tea ("陆羽茶经第一州"). Fast forward to modern era, the company established a tea research centre in 2013, incorporating modern methods of medicine and pharmacy in their tea processing. According to the company's introduction, the tea is made using a complex 77-step procedure.

Hunan (湖南) and Hubei (湖北) are the origin places for the making of Chinese black teas which are indeed fermented green tea in compressed forms of either cylinders or bricks. During ancient times, the fermentation allowed it to better preserve its flavour during the long journey along the Great Tea Road. The compact form allowed easier logistics and cheaper cost with need for lesser number of horses. While Yunnan Pu'er teas are famous, it is a rather recent invention in 1973. During the development research, Yunnan tea institute learned the techniques from Hunan and Hubei. The steps are generally similar, and what differentiates are the tea cultivar, the fermentation mold, the fermentation environment and local practices. 

Using a mug and 200 ml of 100°C water, we let the 3.5g tea bag steep for 1 min. The tea colour change to pale yellow by that time, releasing a seaweed aroma. The aroma is surprisingly clean, and smells nothing of the moist and moldy notes of ferment. Seaweed and flowers are forward, with a discernible sweetness and without any bitterness. The body is medium and the brew is vibrant, with lively tingling of the tea organic acids but without any sourness. The mouthfeel is a curious affair - with continuous steeping, there is a faint dryness on the tongue but yet, there is an oiliness to the brew that feels smooth. Overall an enjoyable and mild cup from hot to cool, this tea bag can be brewed again.

Chang Sheng Chuan black tea is in its original packaging of 12 tea bags of 3.5kg.



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