Time Is the Ingredient

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

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Most Loved Teas

Selected Aged

大绿印 Da Lü Yin 66

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

€68

Aged

郎河 Lang He 9579

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

€32

Selected Aged Low Stock

班章金芽 Banzhang Jin Ya

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

€84

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Our Collections

Curated With Care

Aged Pu-Erh

Shu Pu-Erh

Longjing

Da Hong Pao

Tie Guan Yin

Keemun

Lapsang Souchong

Zhengshan Xiaozhong

Gyokuro

Matcha

Teaware

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.

Black Tea — Keemun

Qimen Hongcha Cooperative

📍 Qimen County, Anhui Province

🏅 国家地理标志 GI protected 🏅 European premium blends since 1890s 🏅 Qihong xiang aroma

▸ Keemun (祁門紅茶) was invented in 1875 by Yu Ganchen — a former civil servant who adapted local green tea processing into full oxidation.
▸ Within twenty years it was appearing in European premium blends under the name 'Keemun'.
▸ The tea carries a natural compound aroma — qihong xiang — described as floral, fruity and faintly winey, unique to this region.
▸ Keemun holds China's National Geographical Indication (GI) protection: genuine Qimen County only.

Black Tea — Lapsang Souchong

Tongmuguan Village Tea

📍 Tongmuguan, Wuyi Mountains, Fujian

🏅 Birthplace of black tea 🏅 桐木國家級自然保護區 national nature reserve 🏅 Zhengshan (正山) legal designation

▸ Tongmuguan is the birthplace of all black tea: Lapsang Souchong was created here during the Ming dynasty (circa 1568).
▸ The original smoked version uses pine wood smoke; zhengshan xiaozhong is the same leaf without the smoke.
▸ 正山 (zhengshan) means 'true mountain' — the legal designation for tea that actually comes from this area.
▸ Tongmuguan is a national nature reserve: no pesticides, no synthetic fertiliser. Fewer than 200 households.

Oolong — Tie Guan Yin

Anxi Tieguanyin Cooperative

📍 Anxi County, Fujian Province

🏅 国家地理标志 GI protected 🏅 中国十大名茶 Ten Famous Teas of China 🏅 Fujian intangible heritage

▸ Tie Guan Yin (鐵觀音, 'Iron Goddess of Mercy') originates from Anxi County and has been made here since at least the 1720s.
▸ Anxi holds China's National GI for Tie Guan Yin — the name cannot legally be used for oolong from other regions.
▸ Qingxiang (清香, green/floral) and Nongxiang (濃香, roasted) are the two main styles, both from Anxi terroir.
▸ The 'Yin Yun' (音韻, 'Iron Goddess rhyme') aftertaste is the defining quality marker for genuine Anxi TGY.

Teaware — Yixing Zisha Clay

Yixing Zisha Artisan Workshop

📍 Yixing, Jiangsu Province

🏅 宜興紫砂国家级非物质文化遗产 — National ICH 🏅 Zisha clay found in Huanglong Mountain only 🏅 Dingshuzhen kiln tradition since Song dynasty

▸ Yixing (宜興) in Jiangsu province is the only place in the world with natural zisha (紫砂, 'purple sand') clay — found in a single hill, Huanglong Mountain.
▸ Zisha teapots are unglazed: the clay is porous enough to season with the teas brewed in it, building a tea patina over years of use.
▸ Classic forms — Xishi, Shipao, Shui Ping, Fang Gu — have remained unchanged for 500 years.
▸ Tea pets (茶寵) are made from the same Yixing clay; a fed tea pet accumulates a patina identical to a seasoned teapot.