Grown on trees up to ten meters tall from the Tuyet San varietal, this loose-leaf green comes from Tua Chua district in Dien Bien, in the far northwest of Vietnam, where the mountaintops sit under thick cloud most of the year and the tea grows at around 1500 meters. That isolation matters for the cup: the area sits away from major pollution sources, which producers point to as part of what keeps the leaf clean. The grade is Flowery Orange Pekoe, and in the cup it shows a pale golden liquor with a full, slightly sweet character running alongside fresh, grass-like notes — a green tea with more body than the delicate end of the category usually offers.
Brew it at 75 to 80 degrees and let it steep for two to three minutes; Teatico's own reference point uses roughly 50g of leaf with a three-minute infusion, so treat the shorter end of that range as a starting point and adjust to taste. It is best taken plain, without milk or sweetener, so the grassy sweetness and golden colour come through unmasked. Keep it in an airtight container, away from heat and strong smells, since green tea picks up odours easily and loses its brightness if left exposed. Green tea has long been valued in the regions where it is grown, and some traditional use ties it to dental health and respiratory comfort, though those are old associations rather than established medical claims. Beyond the cup, growing tea in mountainous districts like this one has also been described as a way of supporting local incomes and protecting the surrounding land, since tea cultivation gives isolated communities a reason to maintain rather than clear the forest around them.
