2022 Harvest Teas

Global Tea Championship Winner
1st Place Winner, Black Tea 

Himalayan Golden Black was a 1st Place Winner of the highly-competitive "Black Tea" category of the Global Tea Championship Awards. It is truly an outstanding black tea that reflects all of nature's goodness in a cup.

This highly sought after black tea is crafted by Himalayan monsoons and the fertile soils of Sandakphu in eastern Nepal. It's one of those small pockets of the world where the conditions are perfect for tea growing. After plucking, the leaves are 25 percent withered, then rolled in mechanical rollers. The tea is then placed in a shaping machine and further dried, producing uniformly curled leaves.

Tea producers from around the world came to this small artisan farm in Nepal to see how it was done.

Like a fine wine, this tea has a lovely balance of flavors: toasty and malty, with notes of stonefruit and honey. We're so lucky to get it and can't wait to share it with you!

2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: Black tea.
Origin: Sandakphu, Ilam, Eastern Nepal
Caffeine: MED-HIGH

Laoshan is a small village near the sea in northeast China. Laoshan black teas are usually small and tippy, lacking the white pekoe-style hairs that give black teas their golden color.

Classic Laoshan Black, grown under the shadow of a sacred mountain, is very smooth and viscous with a robust flavor that has a distinct dark chocolate bite.

People often question whether sugar was added to this tea, but it's simply the weather and soil that make this tea naturally sweet and thick.

Classic Laoshan Black is one of our personal favorites at Tea Runners. It's a tea we always have on our shelf at home!

Spring 2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: Black tea.
Origin: Shandong, China
Caffeine: MED-HIGH

This rare and beautiful tea is a pure bud pick from established plants in the Mojiang area of Simao. It is a spring harvest tea that has been carefully processed to keep its lovely appearance and guard its subtle sugarcane and malty flavors.

We recommend steeping this tea one cup at a time at a lower temperature than other black teas to preserve its delicate flavors.

Spring 2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: Black tea.
Origin: Mojiang, Yunnan, China
Caffeine: MED-HIGH

Sagarmatha Gold awarded 1st Place in an international tea tasting held at Mount Everest Base Camp in April 2018.

Named after Mount Everest, or "Sagarmatha" to the Nepalese, this stunning black tea is unlike any other. Tender buds are carefully plucked at 7,000 feet and naturally oxidized, resulting in a heady bouquet with a rich and chocolatey taste full of honey maple notes. Toasted almond hangs on the finish, creating a complex tea that is best appreciated in its pure form.

Sagarmatha Gold is one of our personal favorite black teas. It is not a strong bold black tea like an Assam, but rather a very well-balanced, fragrant, light black tea with notes of toasty bread and natural sweet honey.

2022 Harvest

Ingredients: Black tea.
Origin: Sumbek, Illam, Nepal
Caffeine: MED-HIGH

Tea Championship Winner
2nd Place, Dark Oolong

Plucked from the Annapurna Massif in the Himalayas, this tea is slowly oxidized in cold air then double fired, creating a sublime winner.

A stunning Darjeeling-style oolong, these notes of delicious, malted caramel and muscat grape with apricot will leave you soothed and invigorated.

Annapurna is Sanskrit for "Goddess of the Harvests," making this tea worthy of its name.

Ingredients: Oolong tea.
Origin: Ilam region, Nepal
Caffeine: MED

Villagers in the Phoenix Mountains are responsible for the hilarious name of this tea. In trying to protect their fabulous tea bushes, they told outsiders that the yellowy brown soil the bushes grew in was colored that way due to an excessive amount of “duck shit”, hence keeping their precious tea leaves all to themselves!

In actuality, this oolong steeps to a beautiful flowery cup with notes of honey, and also holds on to its flavor through many steeps. And you’ll most likely get to keep your stash all to yourself!

Spring 2022 Harvest.

Ingredients: Oolong Tea
Origin: Guangdong province, China
Caffeine: MEDIUM

Silver Needles are among one of China's most famous and most prized teas. Only the first flush top buds are picked from the plant very early in the season, giving special care not to cause any damage or breakage to the bud. They are then dried in the sun.

Silver Needles are a very pure form of tea with little to no oxidation. It produces a lovely cup of very lightly colored tea, with a gorgeous array of sweet and subtle flavors.

We love enjoying this beautiful white tea in the early afternoon.

Spring 2022 Harvest.  

Ingredients: White tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: MED

This beautiful white tea is straight from the first flush of the spring harvest.

Its leaves have been slightly wilted, then dried through a warm wind tunnel, resulting in downy buds and a sweet finish with notes of sugarcane and lychee.

Perfect for the white tea lover!

Spring 2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: White tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: LOW-MED

Don’t worry- this tea’s name comes from the savviness of the villagers in the area.

Wanting to guard their tea bushes, they told outsiders that the color of the soil was due to “copious amounts of duck shit”.

In truth, this tea brews to a gorgeous and sophisticated fruity-floral aroma with a rich and wonderful creaminess.

Winter 2021 Harvest

Ingredients: Oolong tea.
Origin: Guangdong, China
Caffeine: MED

Made from two varietals, this Assamica/Shui Xian hybrid is a vibrant and distinguished black tea with a unique flavor profile. It’s strong, malty, and robust, but leaves very little astringency and no bitterness on the palate, and its delightful chocolate finish is the cherry on top.

A total pleasure and a real treat for a black tea lover.

Spring 2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: Black tea
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: MED-HIGH

Silver Strands is a very fragrant and pungent green tea of Simao that can be infused many times. It has the robust characteristics and a potent aftertaste that lingers in the back of the mouth.

The leaves have been dried into extremely thin strands that slowly unravel and expand as they are infused. A delicious green tea!

Spring 2022 Harvest. 

Ingredients: Green tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: LOW-MED

This black tea comes from the high-altitude tea farming region in Lincang. It is processed from the first flush of spring assamica tea leaves of 30-40 year old naturally grown tea plants.

Big Snow Mountain Black brews a deep red liquor with floral notes and a sweet thick mouthfeel.

Spring 2022 Harvest.

Ingredients: Black tea
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: HIGH

This high-quality green tea comes from the high-altitude area of Simao. This tea is only picked twice a year when its buds are small, resulting in a light and delicate tea with deliciously nutty notes.

Be sure not to over steep, as this tea is best enjoyed in its prime.

Spring 2022 Harvest.

Ingredients: Green tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: LOW-MED

Grown in the high altitude region of Simao, this black tea is expertly crafted and totally unique.  Its leaves are slightly fermented before being processed into black tea, creating a depth and earthiness to its body, while still remaining floral with notes of dried fruit throughout.

Delightful and interesting, and sure to create a conversation. 

Spring 2022 Harvest.

Ingredients: Black tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China
Caffeine: MED-HIGH