If you drink English Breakfast and wonder what Chinese black tea tastes like on its own, start here. Big Snow Mountain brews honey-sweet with toasted grain and a floral lift, naturally sweet enough that milk and sugar get in the way. Da Xue Shan Dian Hong (大雪山滇红, meaning "Big Snow Mountain Yunnan Red") comes from old Assamica bushes at 1,800 meters, where cold nights force sugars into the leaf. What You'll Taste Warm honey over toasted grain, with a soft floral note drifting through the first few steeps. The liquor pours clear copper-red with a malty, sweet aroma, and early rounds land smooth and gently sweet across a round, full body. Later steeps shift toward dried fig and a quiet mineral finish, while the honey keeps building through round five or six. Where It Grows Da Xue Shan sits in the Mengku tea district of Lincang, Yunnan, where 30- to 40-year-old Assamica bushes root deep into red laterite soil at 1,800 meters. Cold nights at that elevation slow leaf growth, concentrating amino acids and sugars that lower plantations cannot match. This lot was hand-picked in April 2025 during the first spring flush, when bud density and sweetness peak together. How It's Made Workers wither the fresh leaves overnight, then hand-roll them to break cell walls and trigger full oxidation. The oxidation runs long and slow, building the malty depth that defines dian hong (meaning "Yunnan red" in Chinese tea tradition). A low-temperature bake finishes the batch gently enough to keep those floral top notes intact instead of roasting them out. A 25-gram bag gives you four to five sessions of around six steeps each. If you have been meaning to explore Yunnan black tea beyond supermarket blends, Big Snow Mountain is an easy place to begin — forgiving to brew and honest about what good leaf tastes like. Brewing Guide Brew 5 grams in 100 milliliters of 90°C water for 30 seconds, adding five seconds per round as you go. Five grams is roughly a heaped tablespoon, and a single serving carries six or more steeps. Big Snow Mountain handles temperature swings well, so if your kettle runs hot, the cup stays smooth. FAQ What is dian hong? Dian hong means "Yunnan red," the Chinese name for black tea made in Yunnan province from large-leaf Assamica plants. Unlike Indian or Sri Lankan black teas, dian hong tends toward natural sweetness rather than astringency. Our tea types guide covers how it fits into the broader family. How is Big Snow Mountain different from Golden Needles? Golden Needles uses pure golden buds for a silkier, lighter cup with more upfront sweetness. Big Snow Mountain blends leaf and bud together, producing a fuller body with deeper malty character and a longer mineral finish. Why does the honey flavor get stronger with each steep? Large Assamica leaves release their sugars gradually. The first steep extracts surface compounds, but thicker cell walls keep releasing sweetness as hot water opens the leaf further. By steep five or six, the honey note is at its strongest. Can I brew Big Snow Mountain in a regular mug? Use about 3 grams in a 250-milliliter mug with 90°C water for two to three minutes. One full-bodied cup instead of multiple lighter steeps, and the forgiving leaf means timing does not need to be exact.
