Thai Forest - Black Tea

cranberry jam - cedar leaves - caramel

A forest-grown black tea from northern Thailand: deep taste with an evolving, unique character.

This tea comes from old-growth trees growing wild in the forests of Chiang Rai, in the far north of Thailand, under the partial shade of the canopy in a fully natural, organic setting. The gardens were established generations ago by the Khon Mueang, the ancient people of Lanna, and traditionally used for miang — a tea fermented and eaten rather than drunk. These forest trees are rarely used for drinking tea at all, and rarer still for tea of real quality.

Olivier Schneider set up a small workshop in the area and partnered with local villagers to process the leaves — first processing happens in the village, then the transformation is completed in his own workshop using methods he's developed himself. It's a genuinely new tea, not a traditional recipe: the first harvest is only just being offered this year.

The result is a black tea with real depth: cranberry jam and caramel meet a crisp, woody edge of cedar leaves. Still young and settling into itself, it will keep evolving and improving with time.

Beyond the tea itself, the project has a wider purpose — bringing income and value to villages where tea has traditionally meant only miang, a low-priced product with a shrinking market. By developing quality drinking tea from the same forest gardens, the aim is to give producers a more sustainable option while keeping their forest gardens intact.

We are happy to offer some of the very first kilos of this tea, in collaboration with Olivier Schneider, a tea expert with over 20 years of experience researching taste, processing and culture of tea. After a decade in Yunnan, he now lives in Thailand, where he cultivates a centuries-old tea garden and continues to share his knowledge through teaching and writing.

This tea is great for brewing gong fu style. For the fullest experience, use a small (~200ml) teapot or gaiwan with 8g of tea | 95°C | 30 sec first infusion, then add ~5 sec to each steep that follows. 

50g

origin: Chiang Rai, Thailand
producer: Olivier Schneider
harvest: 2026, forest-grown

Preparation:

1tsp (2-3g) per cup | 100°c | 1-2min
Use more leaves for stronger tea. You can brew our teas many times.