Wild Origin

Floral perfume and honey in a cup that tastes like a mountain forest after rain. Wild Origin, Da Xue Shan Yesheng (大雪山野生), comes from tea trees growing untended in Yunnan's highlands, with no rows and no pruning, just old growth reaching through the canopy. The flavor carries that character, resinous and sweet, building toward a long mineral finish with every steep. What You'll Taste Think warm honey layered over pine resin, with a red-fruit sweetness underneath. The liquor pours bright copper with a resinous warmth in the steam, and the first sip lands smooth and floral with a sweetness that coats the tongue. Later rounds lean into dried apricot and quiet spice while the mineral finish stretches longer each time, pulling you back steep after steep. Each steep stretches that mineral finish a little longer — wild trees with no rows and no pruning built that depth. Where It Grows The name means 'Big Snow Mountain wild-growing,' and the trees live up to it — they stand at 2,100 meters in Mengku, Lincang, in Yunnan's ancient forest belt — trees estimated at 300 to 500 years old. Cold nights at that altitude slow the leaves and concentrate sugars, and that slow growth is why this black tea tastes sweeter than lowland versions. Lisu families picked this March 2025 lot by hand as the first spring buds opened. How It's Made Lisu pickers climb into the canopy to reach leaves that no one planted or pruned. The fresh leaf withers outdoors, then goes through full oxidation — the step that turns green tea into Chinese black tea, known locally as dian hong. After rolling, the leaves dry in the sun rather than an oven, a slower method that preserves the pine-resin edge and floral lift you taste in the cup. If you already drink Yunnan black tea, Wild Origin shows what happens when the trees grow wild. Twenty-five grams is five or more sessions, enough to see how the cup shifts from floral to mineral. How to Brew Brew 5 grams in 100 milliliters of 90°C water for 30 seconds. Five grams is about a tablespoon, and a 25-gram bag gives you around five sessions. Keep steeps short and add a few seconds each round — the leaves open slowly, and these wild arbor leaves can push eight or more steeps before fading. FAQ What is wild tree black tea? Wild tree black tea comes from trees growing on their own in forest, without planting or pruning. In Yunnan, some of these trees are hundreds of years old. Their roots reach deeper into the soil, and the leaves carry a different mineral and floral character than plantation-grown tea. How does Wild Origin compare to Ancient Heights? Wild Origin is from untended forest trees with a floral, resinous character. Ancient Heights comes from managed old-tree plots at a similar altitude but delivers a rounder, maltier cup. Try both to taste how growing conditions shape flavor. How many steeps can I get from one serving? Expect eight or more rounds from a single five-gram dose. Wild arbor leaves are thicker than plantation tea, so they release flavor slowly. Start at 30 seconds and add a few seconds each round. The cup shifts from floral to mineral as the session goes on. Will this keep me up at night? Caffeine in wild tree tea depends more on leaf maturity and harvest timing than on the tree itself. This spring harvest uses young buds and leaves, so expect a caffeine level similar to other black teas. Drinking after a meal or later in the day helps if you are sensitive.