2025 Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Now Available from Yunnan | HOJO Online Speciality Tea Shop

The 2025 harvest of Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea is now available.
Crafted from truly wild Camellia taliensis trees growing naturally in the high-altitude forests of Yunnan, this tea offers a purity and character unique to its origin.

This year’s unusually dry climate during the withering season was ideal, resulting in a floral and clean tea. We look forward to sharing how this year’s tea has turned out.

Truly Wild Tea from a Rare Species

Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea stands out for two main reasons.
First, it’s made from truly wild tea trees that grow naturally in the mountains, completely untouched by human cultivation.

Second, it comes from a rare tea species called Camellia taliensis, which is different from Camellia sinensis used in most teas.
By “wild,” we don’t mean old tea trees or abandoned tea garden. These are trees that have grown freely in the mountain forests for generations, just like wild plants.
What makes wild tea special can be felt most clearly in the finish. After drinking, the aftertaste is incredibly deep and long-lasting, lingering in the throat with a rich and heavy presence.

Camellia taliensis: Tradition and Distinctive Flavour

Camellia taliensis is a close relative of Camellia sinensis, which is commonly used to produce traditional teas across China. However, in certain mountainous villages of Yunnan, ethnic minority communities have long used Camellia taliensis instead, harvesting the leaves from wild trees, pan-frying them at home, and drinking the tea as part of their daily life. This long-standing local tradition highlights a distinct cultural lineage separate from mainstream tea production.

This wild white tea has a distinctive flavour profile that sets it apart. It carries a unique fruity note, often reminiscent of Shine Muscat grapes and fresh young tomatoes. Smooth, refreshing, and layered with depth, it’s no surprise that this tea remains one of the most popular in our collection.

The Challenges of Processing Camellia taliensis into White Tea

Camellia taliensis is characterized by its much thicker stems, which make it especially challenging to process into high-quality white tea.

Technically, you can make white tea by simply withering and drying the leaves. But if the process isn’t handled properly, moisture often remains trapped in the thick stems. This can lead to over-fermentation（enzymatic oxidation）, resulting in browning and a musty, off smell. In fact, many wild white teas in the market with a dark, leathery appearance similar to wood ear mushrooms are usually the result of poor processing.
To avoid this, we travelled to Yunnan before the harvest season began and oversaw every step of the production ourselves. This included selecting the raw leaves, spreading the leaves properly, ensuring good air circulation, and checking the final moisture content. Our goal was to produce a tea that looks fresh and vibrant, like it was just plucked from the mountain, with a clean green appearance and a pure, uplifting aroma.

Floral and Shine Muscat-like Flavor

Because rainfall and humidity vary each year, the flavor profile of white tea can change noticeably, even when using the exact same processing method.
This year, from late March to mid-April, which is the peak white tea season, the weather in Yunnan was unusually dry. It hardly rained at all, and the air was so dry that even without spin drying, my laundry dried completely within two to three hours at the place I stayed.
Thanks to these ideal conditions, the withering process went exceptionally well. As a result, this year’s Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea has a clean taste with soft floral notes and a hint of Shine Muscat grapes.

Flavor Development Over Time

At this early stage, the flavor is still quite mild, as it is freshly produced. However, when stored in an oxygen-free environment, its character changes gradually. From our past experience, the sweet notes become more noticeable after a few months. After about three years, a fruity note similar to grapes starts to appear. With longer aging, this flavor continues to develop and becomes more like raisins.
One of the unique pleasures of white tea is being able to enjoy it at different stages. You can appreciate the refreshing floral sweetness when new, and also enjoy the richer character that appears over time. We hope you will experience both the freshly made and the aged versions to see how this wild mountain tea evolves.

Incredible Impact: Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea Sparkling

Da Xue Shan Wild White Tea tastes amazing whether brewed hot or enjoyed as a cold infusion. Because white tea is processed with minimal heat, its natural enzymes are still active.
When you brew it with hot water, these enzymes are activated during infusion, triggering a light fermentation that brings out a subtle fruity aroma—almost like a lightly fermented black tea. On the other hand, cold infusion keeps the enzymes inactive, allowing the tea’s floral notes and Shine Muscat-like sweetness to come through more clearly.

If you take it a step further by carbonating the cold-brewed tea using a device like Drinkmate, it turns into a surprisingly refreshing drink. Commercial sparkling water often has a flat or odd taste, and blending it with cold-brewed tea does not deliver the same result. Freshly carbonated white tea is vibrant, aromatic, and naturally sweet.

We highly recommend trying it out with a carbonation machine to create your own sparkling white tea and experience the difference.