Imperial Grade Laoshan Black is the highest grade version of the already high grade Classic Laoshan Black.
This tea comes from the small family farm of the Liang family where all the growing and processing is done on site, under their strict control, to produce the highest quality result.
What separates this tea from the Classic Laoshan Black is that it's produced from the smallest tippy materials of the tea plants, which are hand selected one leaf at a time during the picking process and set aside for this small batch of tea.
This tea starts its growth under the protection of a greenhouse in the winter and early spring, then it's exposed to direct sunlight until picking season starts in late April to early May.
This tea is wonderfully sweet and thick, with notes of cane sugar and chocolate.
One of our favorites!
May 2025 Harvest
We also recommend checking out our Laoshan Village Black Needles. A similar and wonderfully delicious tea.
Ingredients: Black tea
Origin: Shandong, China
Caffeine: HIGH
A rich, dark chocolate scent wafts up from the leaves even before steeping, but the steeped tea is almost potently chocolatey. A hint of unsweet cherries -- tart, but not bitter, adds to the overall complexity. This is an incredibly good tea. Earthy, robust, and delicious. Super pleased with this purchase!
While not as robust as the classic laoshan black, this tea is very sweet with a strong dark chocolate flavor with slightly earthy nutty undertones that becomes more vegetal after a few infusions. It also has a nice thick smooth mouth feel and no bitterness or astringency. Currently one of my favorite go-to's