FIRST CHAPTER: one mountain, a thousand variations
Four seasons in tea
Explore and learn with our rarities
Eastern tea club
Our tea club Four Seasons in Tea unites our Tea Academy and our Tea Tours: it takes you to tea forests and gardens, exploring a single terroir through the eyes of local farmers and experts.
It is a journey divided in four chapters, one for every season of the year. Each chapter is shipped quarterly.
It is designed with the imagination of a traveler on the mountain, and village after village you make your way tasting and evaluating teas following the famous routes.
We start by focusing on Yunnan and Pu'er tea, slowly discovering small local productions and the flavour shades of each terroir, where the roads of Xishuangbanna will lead us.
FOURTH CHAPTER: THE CULTURAL CRADLE OF PU'ER TEA
Bulang Mountain 布朗山
We explore the valleys and villages of Bulang mountain, talking about some of the most resonant words in the pu’er world: the people of “Pu” ethnic minority, prominent villages such as Laobanzhang and Laoman’e, and an incredible variety of tastes in a single area.
With our journey we get closer and closer to the modern border between China and Myanmar, in a crossroad of ethnic minorities, ancient cultures, temples, and contemporaneity of a unique charm.
This mountain is steeped in the tangible history of early civilisation and tea cultivation, but it retains distinct wild characteristics in its environment, very recent roads, and local culture.
We wished I could do the same trips with each of you, it would be amazing to taste all these teas together; thus I am happy to share our best leaves and knowledge around the area with you all with this chapter of our club.
fourth Chapter
The fourth chapter is out now, and you can choose to subscribe either to the single or the full Four Season annual membership, that includes the first, second and third chapter.
A mountain experience at your tea table
In each chapter of our year together we keep the same logic: bring you with us in a multi-layered exploration, whether you are a passionate drinker, a traveller, or a tea professional.
Each shipment includes: 7-10 tea samples of 15gr. each, a web page with information and graphics about the area and teas, and an online session with Vivian Zhang to share knowledge and impressions.
Each chapter can be purchased as a single product (until quantities last), or as a multi-chapter subscription. Annual subscribers will enjoy a 10% discount on all our products with each subsequent shipment.
ONE MOUNTAIN, A THOUSAND VARIATION
Nannuo is the mountain we first fell in love with, and is the mountain that first saw the cultivation of the tea tree; it has a gentle and sweet name all deserved since the antique times, and it is with its soft slopes blessed by clouds and multicoloured skies that we decided to start our year of tea-club.
VARIATIONS OF FLOWERS, HONEY, AND WILDERNESS
Yiwu 易武 is a sequence of basins and peaks, steep hills and villages built in gentle hollows of the terrain. The roads date back at least the Qing dynasty's tea trade: the history of pu'er tea here has tangible traces, beyond the legends wild tribes bequeathed generation after generation; here there are Imperial sigils and letters, old signs and stones: here is the history, and the contemporary step of modern pu'er tea.
WHERE THE ANCESTRAL TEA STARTED ITS JOURNEY
East of the great Mekong River, towards the royal court of the past: the ancient trees that now provide us with their leaves were once used to fill the cups of many emperors; thus, we are one more step in their lives, and we approach this tasting with joy and respect.