Time Is the Ingredient

An online boutique for premium tea from China and Japan, sourced direct from the people who make it.

Shop bestsellers

Most Loved Teas

大绿印 66 Da Lü Yin 66

1999 · Liu Da Cha Shan Tea Co. 1999 · Liu Da Cha Shan Tea Co. · Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

from €15

郎河 9579 Lang He 9579

2007 · Lang He Tea Factory 2007 · Lang He Tea Factory · Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

from €8

班章金芽 Banzhang Jin Ya

2008 · Menghai Traditional Craft Artisan 2008 · Menghai Traditional Craft Artisan · Banzhang, Menghai, Yunnan

from €22

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Our Collections

Curated With Care

Sheng Pu-Erh

Shu Pu-Erh

Aged Pu-Erh

Longjing

Da Hong Pao

Gyokuro

Matcha

Gift Packaging

Travel Sets

Direct From Origin

Our Factories

Sheng & Shu Pu-Erh

Menghai Tea Factory / TAETEA

📍 Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

🏅 National heritage (КНР) 🏅 Benchmark 7572 🏅 2,000+ stores

▸ The most famous pu-erh factory in China, founded in 1940.
▸ The shu (ripe) puerh process was invented here in 1973.
▸ Recipes 7542 and 7572 are the official benchmarks for all Chinese puerh.
▸ TAETEA production is on China's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Sheng Pu-Erh (Gushu)

Yunnan Feishan Maochu Tea Co.

📍 Yunnan

🏅 CCIV Organic 🏅 Gushu 100+ years old

▸ Small artisan brand "Horse and Dream".
▸ Specialises in tea from 100-year-old wild arbor trees (古树, gushu).
▸ Certified CCIV — Yunnan's organic tea certification centre.
▸ Old trees give a deeper, more layered infusion than young bushes.

Sheng Pu-Erh (Premium)

Menghai Original Ecology

📍 Lao Banzhang, Menghai

🏅 "King of Puerh" 🏅 Fewer than 100 households 🏅 Single village

▸ Lao Banzhang is the legendary "King of Puerh" village in Menghai county.
▸ Gives the most powerful sheng in China: sharp bitterness that flips to deep sweetness.
▸ The village has fewer than 100 households — authentic Banzhang is rare and expensive.
▸ Small private producer, single-village raw material with no blending.

Aged Sheng Pu-Erh

Liu Da Cha Shan Tea Co.

📍 Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

🏅 25+ years aged 🏅 Collectible 🏅 Imperial heritage

▸ "Six Great Tea Mountains" — the historic pu-erh regions of Xishuangbanna.
▸ Even during the Qing dynasty they supplied tea to the imperial court.
▸ Partnered with the state-owned Yunnan Tea Leaf Import & Export Co.
▸ Their 1999 cake is a rare 25+ year old collectible sheng.

Sheng Pu-Erh (Entry)

Kunming Hemei Tea Co.

📍 Kunming, Yunnan

🏅 "Seven Sons" series 🏅 Beginner-friendly

▸ The "Sun" (太阳) brand from Kunming, Yunnan's capital.
▸ Famous for its "Seven Sons" (七子饼) series.
▸ "Golden Bud" is a compact 100g cake pressed from tender buds.
▸ Light, floral, no harsh bitterness — the ideal first sheng puerh.

Shu Pu-Erh (Daily)

Lang He Tea Factory

📍 Xishuangbanna, Yunnan

🏅 Best-value shu 🏅 Consistent quality

▸ One of Xishuangbanna's best-known mid-tier brands.
▸ Specialises in stable, affordable shu (ripe) puerh.
▸ Recipe 9579: smooth dark liquor with notes of roasted grain and dried fruit.
▸ The ideal shu for everyday drinking.

Shu Pu-Erh (Highland)

Menghai Gaoshan Tea Co.

📍 Highland Menghai, Yunnan

🏅 Highland sourcing 🏅 匠心製茶 craftsmanship

▸ "Gaoshan" means "High Mountain" — material sourced from highland plantations.
▸ "Black Gold" is named after the glossy, oily appearance of the pressed leaves.
▸ Motto: "Masterful tea-making, a heritage of quality."
▸ Dense, rich shu with notes of caramel and baked fruit.

Aged Shu Pu-Erh

Menghai Traditional Craft Artisan

📍 Banzhang, Menghai, Yunnan

🏅 15+ years aged 🏅 Big-tree 大树 🏅 Banzhang terroir

▸ A small Menghai artisan pressing by hand in the traditional style.
▸ Raw material comes from big-tree (大树) stock in the Banzhang area.
▸ Shu with 15+ years of dry storage — fermentation has fully settled.
▸ Deep chestnut infusion, notes of dates, camphor and honey.

Aged Shu Pu-Erh

Tengjian Tea Industry

📍 Menghai, Xishuangbanna

🏅 8 years aged 🏅 Dry storage 🏅 Mid-aged shu

▸ A niche Menghai producer under the Gu Gang (古岗) brand.
▸ Specialises in dry-stored shu puerh of medium age.
▸ "Ba Nian Chen Yun" translates as "eight-year aged rhyme".
▸ Soft red-amber infusion with notes of aged wood and longan.

Shu Pu-Erh (Single-origin)

Bulang Mountain Producer

📍 Bulang Mountain, Menghai

🏅 布朗纯料 Pure material 🏅 Single origin 🏅 Golden buds

▸ Shu made from 100% pure Bulang Mountain material (布朗纯料).
▸ Bulang is one of the six legendary tea mountains of Xishuangbanna.
▸ "Jin Ya" (金芽) — golden buds visible in the pressed cake.
▸ Dense ruby infusion: cocoa, dates, caramelised sugar.

Scented Shu Pu-Erh

Yunnan Scented Tea Artisan

📍 Southern Yunnan

🏅 糯米香叶 blend 🏅 Gift-ready 🏅 Beginner-friendly

▸ Classic Yunnan blend — Menghai shu + nuomi xiang (糯米香) leaf.
▸ Nuomi xiang is an aromatic plant from southern Yunnan with a sticky-rice aroma.
▸ Gift-ready gold-foil wrapper with classical landscape painting.
▸ Soft sweet flavour — ideal for beginners and aroma lovers.

Green Tea — Longjing

Ming Cha 茗茶

📍 Hangzhou, Zhejiang

🏅 10 famous teas of China 🏅 Ming Qian harvest 🏅 West Lake terroir

▸ Supplier of classical Longjing — one of China's ten most famous teas.
▸ Grown by West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.
▸ The premium "ming qian" harvest (before April 5th) is the quality benchmark.
▸ Flat jade-green leaves, chestnut aroma, delicate vegetal-floral flavour.

Oolong — Da Hong Pao

Wuyi Star / Mingquan

📍 Wuyi Mountains, Fujian

🏅 UNESCO Heritage 🏅 20 g = €20,000 🏅 Zhengyan core zone

▸ The Wuyi Mountains are the birthplace of oolong and of Da Hong Pao itself.
▸ 6 protected mother bushes — 20 g of their leaves sold for ~€20,000 in 2002.
▸ Tea grows in volcanic rock crevices — hence the unique "rock rhyme" (yan yun).
▸ The region is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sheng & Shu Pu-Erh

Puwen Tea Factory

📍 Puwen Town, Pu'er, Yunnan

🏅 Since 1964 🏅 Pu'er prefecture 🏅 Clean craft

▸ Founded in 1964 during the state-factory era and still operating under the Puwen brand.
▸ Sits in Puwen town inside Pu'er prefecture — the region that gave the tea its name.
▸ Known for disciplined, precise processing: no rushed fermentation, no shortcut blends.
▸ A connoisseur's choice for serious drinkers who value craft over hype.

Matcha & Gyokuro

Marukyu Koyamaen

📍 Uji, Kyoto Prefecture

🏅 Prime Minister's Award, All-Japan Tea Competition 🏅 11 generations in Uji 🏅 Est. 1704

▸ Founded in Uji during the Edo period (1704) and still family-run after 11 generations.
▸ Marukyu Koyamaen matcha is graded by the specific nishiki cloth used at harvest — aratama, wakō, eiju, unkaku, tenju — in ascending order of refinement.
▸ Every tencha leaf is stone-milled on granite wheels that turn ~50 rpm, producing ~40 g of matcha per hour.
▸ Suppliers to the Urasenke and Omotesenke tea ceremony schools in Kyoto.

Gyokuro & Sencha

Hibiki-an

📍 Uji, Kyoto Prefecture

🏅 Three-time gold at the Zenkoku Chaki Hyōshikai 🏅 Uji Chamber of Tea gold medal

▸ Hibiki-an's top-grade gyokuro is shaded for a full 20 days before picking — the industry baseline is 14.
▸ All tea is hand-plucked from first-flush (ichibancha) leaves only — the single most expensive part of the Japanese tea calendar.
▸ Cultivars used include Saemidori, Asahi, and Gokō — the three most prized gyokuro varieties in Uji.
▸ Each lot is still finish-fired by the fourth-generation tea master himself.