Most of us understand the difference between commodity and speciality tea. One is made for yield and low prices; the other is produced with a greater emphasis on flavour and effect. But this distinction is only the very beginning of the tea journey.
True tea is the cream of speciality tea. True tea forgets the marketing fluff and pretty blends and instead showcases the wonder of the tea plant with all of its intricacies of production, terroir and cultivar. True tea is crafted with a singular passion by dedicated makers with skills passed on for millennia.
Within True tea, there are many thousands of types, grades and prices, produced in countless far-flung villages and deep mountain forests. Finding uniquely sublime teas from these thousands of batches (at a representative price point) is a struggle for even the most dedicated tea hunters.
That’s why we need tea curators - someone to sample as many of these teas as possible to select the winners - the teas that you would proudly gift to your best (and most picky) friend.
This is Pinnacle tea – a curated selection of the most impressive True tea out there.
At Mei Leaf, that curator is me. In 2001 I started my love affair with tea, learning every facet of this magical leaf and refining an ever-evolving taste.
Every year I drink about a thousand True Teas to curate the relative handful to grace our shelves. This selection is unapologetically individual, as all passion should be.
Mei Leaf is my personal journey in tea and these are my Pinnacle tea selections. I openly share them and all my tea learnings with you.
Don
Below is a picture showing all of the teas we tried in one season (Spring 2022). The small circle in front of us are the selections for Mei Leaf.
READ OUR OTHER QUICK GUIDES:
- New to Tea?
- What Makes a Mei Leaf Tea?
- Six types of Tea
- White Tea
- Green Tea
- Matcha Tea
- Yellow Tea
- Oolong Tea
- Black Tea
- Post-Fermented Tea
- Tisanes
- Which Teaware is Necessary?
- How to Brew Tea
- How to Appreciate Tea
