The reason to hunt for the naturally farmed tea | HOJO Online Speciality Tea Shop

In 2014 I went to Yunnan, China twice and stay there for about a month plus. For now, most of teas have already arrived and I am enjoying drinking it every day.

The main purpose that I keep going to the Yunnan tea production site is to look for tea grown with the natural farming practice. The natural farming style means that tea is grown with no fertilizer and no pesticide. The farmer does not even apply any organic fertilizer so as to keep their tea growing independently as part of the surrounding ecology. In fact, this is the most traditional tea farming style in Yunnan; however, nowadays this farming style is scarcely seen in Yunnan. Actually, I am keen to look for naturally farmed tea is not just about the food safety issue, but there is another reason why I am so interested in the naturally farmed tea.

If one knows how to taste, the naturally farmed tea gives another level of taste experience

The reason why I always look for the naturally farmed tea is that I’ve experience how delicious they are. The taste of the naturally farmed tea is just like wild herbs in mountain. Although it is not a very appropriate example, the naturally farmed tea gives the taste sensation similar to wild oyster, abalone or prawn. It gives thick lingering aftertaste that makes me desire for drinking more even after I have drunk sufficient cups of tea.

In July, I made second trip to a village located near the Myanmar border to Yunnan. I had a chance to eat various kinds of fruits produced with natural farming style. These fruits were so amazing! It was not just sweet, but the taste was so deep, thick, and yet very soft. It was the taste reflected from the minerals that prominently exist in those naturally farmed fruit. After eating, I felt very sleepy and could not continue eating. I think that it is harder to appreciate the naturally farmed tea than those fruit because of tea has less flavour and lighter taste. Somehow I think we need some experiences to appreciate the taste of the naturally farmed tea. From my experiences, I noticed that many people rather commented that the taste is flat if tea is giving too deep after taste and smooth drinking feeling.

The good tea taste delicious even if you drink it while pinching your nose

There are various level of naturally farmed tea.

1. Completely left in nature
2. Providing compost made by weeds.
3. Organic garden

If I would to look for the best material, I will go for the tea tree which completely left in the nature and given no care throughout a year. If you know how to detect the depth of after taste, you can clearly tell the difference.
If you are less familiar in drinking the naturally farmed tea, you may be often influenced by the flavour. The flavour is the result of tea making process. Moreover the less aftertaste the more up-coming aroma you may detect. Most importantly, the tea has an ability to alter the water quality. A good tea gives you very nice drinking feeling even if you drink tea while you are pinching your nose.

The complete natural farming style used to be the tradition of those minority tribes in Yunnan. However, nowadays the naturally farmed tea garden is barely seen in Yunnan. Many farmers including those minority tribes use feces as fertilizer. As a result, tea grows faster and the output increases. It always happens once the name of a particular tea production area becomes famous. I do not think I can compromise the quality since the day I got to know the taste of tea from natural farming style. That is why I keep visiting Yunnan every year to make sure I could find the right quality.