About Golden Tea

In Yunnan, why do some tea gardens appear golden?

It refers to a tea garden where the tea leaves shine like golden rice ears. When tea plants are grown without fertilizers or pesticides in their natural state, they experience nitrogen deficiency, causing the leaves to turn yellow like banana peels.

Such tea plants thrive on their own without human intervention and function as part of the ecosystem rather than being overly protected by human hands.

Observing such a transformed tea garden reveals an abundance of living organisms. Despite this, the tea plants are less susceptible to diseases and pests without the need for disinfection.

Tea plants in harsh environments develop deep roots and grow slowly. As a result, the cells forming the tea leaves are very small, with a high cell density.

Additionally, tea that grows slowly over time is rich in polyphenols and minerals, resulting in a very rich, sweet, and mellow tea.

When plants receive an excess of fertilizer, they focus solely on growth and do not synthesize polyphenols like catechins. In modern agriculture, it is common to use large amounts of nitrogen fertilizer.

With nitrogen fertilizer, tea plants grow rapidly, turning dark green, and their leaves shine as if coated with wax.

In a way, it is similar to a person eating only meat and becoming overweight. The appearance may be beautiful, but such tea lacks depth and richness in flavor.

Tea grown with modern agriculture and fertilizers

Tea grown with modern agriculture and fertilizers

Naturally grown tea

At first glance, it may look very unattractive, making you wonder, "Is this really tea?" However, once you taste this tea, you will never forget its flavor.

Naturally grown tea

This is the same type of tea as in the photo above. The different cultivation methods dramatically reduce the size of the leaves.

The tea leaves that grow on their own, similar to natural plants, are very small, yellow in color, and the tea trees appear whitish. But take a look around.

Naturally growing plants are yellow-green. Wild vegetables, natural fish, and wild mushrooms grown as part of the ecosystem are all delicious.

We seek the powerful flavor produced by nature and look for golden tea every year.

Tea trees beside animal manure. The leaves are so large and dark green that it's hard to believe they are tea leaves. Tea harvested from such tea trees has a light flavor and almost no throat sensation.

Identifying Fertilizer-Grown Tea and Naturally Grown Tea

Tea trees grown without fertilizer and in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem grow much slower compared to tea trees managed using modern agricultural methods.

Key points to identify such tea leaves are their yellowish color, thin veins, small leaf size, and narrow leaf spacing.

Naturally grown tea

Tea grown with fertilizers

Tea that grows vigorously with fertilizers has wide leaf spacing, whereas naturally grown tea has the second and third leaves almost at the same position.