Buddha's Hand Red

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea
Flavors
Dark Chocolate, Earthy, Mineral
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by vallhallow
Average preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 12 oz / 354 ml

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3 Tasting Notes View all

  • “TeaTiff TTB #18 This was such an interesting tea! I enjoyed reading some of the backstory here on Steepster. Though it’s not a flavor profile I’m typically drawn to, I enjoyed sampling this tea. It...” Read full tasting note
    70
  • “TTB Review #1: Earthy and woody, almost like a liquid tree but in a good way. The overall flavor is somewhat bitter but there are some sweet undertones that I can’t quite place – almost similar to...” Read full tasting note
    60
  • “Minerality and grittiness and Petrichor. More of a wet concrete than wet forest. There is also a bit of earthy chocolate, a deep rich dark chocolate that I taste in Laoshan teas. There are also...” Read full tasting note
    83

From Cultivate Tea

永春佛手红茶

Harvest
April 2021

Origin
Yongchun, Fujian

The origin of Yongchun Buddha’s Hand 永春佛手 tea dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty. The story is that a monk in the ancient Qihuyan temple in Anxi County grafted branches of tea trees onto the fingered citron (buddha’s hand) plant, and carefully cultivated the trees. The method of grafting was then passed on to monks of Shifengyan Temple in Yongchun County, and the tea farmers nearby the temple began to plant the new varietal of tea trees.

During the Qing Dynasty, many Chinese emigrated to Southeast Asia from Yongchun, Fujian. They brought the tea, Buddha’s Hand, from their hometown with them as they believed the tea relieves fatigue, reduces blood pressure and inflammation. Until the early 1990’s, 80% of all Buddha’s Hand from Yongchun were exported to Southeast Asia. With the disintegration of state-owned tea factories and the decline of foreign trade, the Yongchun Buddha’s Hand lost its main market, and the tea was made to mimic the more popular Tieguanyin oolong.

As a result, a large number of the old Buddha’s Hand tea gardens that were planted during the 1900’s have been abandoned, and even the local people of Yongchun have gradually forgotten what traditional Buddha’s Hand tea looked or tasted like.

Yongchun Buddha’s hand are unique among tea trees. Although the trees are shrubs, the leaves are large and plump – some growing as big as the size of a palm!

Our friend Mei is a native of Yongchun County with deep roots and a passion for the history and traditional crafts of the town and the people. In the past eight years, Mei has searched for tea in the mountains and hills of Yongchun with several friends. She searched almost every major mountain, and found that the old groves of Buddha’s Hand and Shuixian tea forests are deserted in the deep mountains at high altitudes of 2000 – 3000 ft above sea level. Due to the remote location of these old groves of tea trees, they have been protected from human intervention and destruction. To Mei, a clean cup of tea means that there is much more work to be done to protect the tea mountains and old tea trees.

Usually, leaves from Buddha’s Hand tea trees are processed into oolongs. The Buddha’s Hand Red is a black tea that was first made in the early 2000s. The leaves consist of one-bud-two-leaves from Buddha’s Hand tea trees in Sukeng County of Yongchun. The buds are purple-red in color when harvested by hand in the early spring. The tea is refreshing, bright and sweet, with a unique citron aroma. It is naturally milky, with notes of chocolate, citron and wild flowers.

About Cultivate Tea View company

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3 Tasting Notes

70
961 tasting notes

TeaTiff TTB #18

This was such an interesting tea! I enjoyed reading some of the backstory here on Steepster. Though it’s not a flavor profile I’m typically drawn to, I enjoyed sampling this tea. It almost came across like a puerh with a very earthy, complex flavor. There were some dark chocolate notes in there and a lingering mineral aftertaste. Not sure this is something I’d drink again, but I’m glad to have tried it.

Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Earthy, Mineral

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Dustin

I’d have expected it to be citrusy with a name like that!

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60
157 tasting notes

TTB Review #1: Earthy and woody, almost like a liquid tree but in a good way. The overall flavor is somewhat bitter but there are some sweet undertones that I can’t quite place – almost similar to liquorish, but again not quite. Overall a unique and enjoyable tea, though I probably wouldn’t buy it for myself.

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83
1233 tasting notes

Minerality and grittiness and Petrichor. More of a wet concrete than wet forest. There is also a bit of earthy chocolate, a deep rich dark chocolate that I taste in Laoshan teas. There are also woody notes like wet twigs and slightly wet compost. Not that I’ve tasted wet compost, but hopefully you get the picture. Wet aroma is subtle. Earthy. Thank you very much, Vallhallow, for this sample! I’ve been feeling a bit down, partly vacation depression, partly women stuff, partly people being jerks. This blew it all away. Tea is awesome.

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