Shan Tuyet tea is a specialty of Ta Xua commune, Bac Yen district, Son La province. Normally, people know Ta Xua because of the legendary dinosaur back wave, which can hunt for breathtakingly beautiful seas of clouds. However, don't forget that Ta Xua also has Shan Tuyet tea, a specialty known as "Vietnam's number one tea". And to have a cup of delicious, premium Shan Tuyet tea, the process of picking tea leaves and making tea is not simple at all.
One early morning, when the sun began to visit Ta Xua, Tong and I went to pick Shan Tuyet tea leaves in Be village. From Tra May Hostel, we went straight along the road to Be village, Ta Xua. Luckily, the road was cemented, so our journey was not too difficult.
The road to Ban Be is winding and zigzag.
The road to Be village is breathtakingly beautiful, both sides of the road are surrounded by seas of clouds. The most beautiful part I saw was still the part where on one side you can see the whole of Bac Yen immersed in the floating clouds, on the other side is the sea of clouds at the legendary Dinosaur's Back.
The white, fluffy clouds covered the road.
Continuing on that road, we had to go deeper into the mountain. The deeper we went, the more Hmong houses began to appear. It was the Hmong New Year season, so Hmong children were sitting and playing on both sides of the road.
The road became muddy and extremely difficult as we went deeper into the mountain. At one point, the wheels slipped and the two girls almost fell off the road.
300 year old Shan Tuyet tea tree
Shan Tuyet tea trees began to appear. Tong told me that the Shan Tuyet tea trees that live freely on the mountain are up to 300-400 years old. At first glance, the Shan Tuyet tea tree has a sturdy, large, and somewhat rough trunk. The leaves of the tea tree are smooth, the old leaves seem a bit large and split outwards.
To pick the tea, Tong had to climb to the top of the tree. The fresh green tea leaves were put into the basket one by one. Whether the tea was good or not depended largely on the tea leaves. Normally, the pickers would choose the young leaves, and would not pick the old tea leaves because they would not make good tea.
Mong girl picking tea
In one day, people in Ta Xua can pick 2 baskets full of tea leaves to bring home. Shan Tuyet tea must be picked seasonally to get a lot of leaves, so people in Ta Xua usually pick leaves from March to September. The season with the most leaves falls around April and May.
The young leaf when picked
After picking, we moved back to the Shan Tuyet tea factory to see the tea making process. After picking, the tea leaves are put into large trays and dried until the tea is drained of water, then the tea is put through a fresh tea grinder. After that, all the ground tea is poured into the tea rolling machine. Tea is divided into two types: bamboo tea and ball tea. Depending on the type, it will be put into two different machines to create the shape of the tea leaves.
Bamboo tea (left), tea garden (right)
After the shaping stage, the tea continues to be put into the dryer before being packaged into finished products.
Shan Tuyet tea grinder
Tea ball shaping machine
Bamboo tea shaping machine
The process of making tea is also extremely difficult. To get a cup of good tea, first you have to use a spoon to scoop the tea wood from the bag and put it into the teapot. After boiling the water, do not pour the water directly into the teapot but pour it into another teapot. Continuing this process, the tea maker will take the teapot with hot water and start pouring it into the teapot with tea. Brew moderately, not too little and not too much. After pouring water into the teapot, the tea maker also uses hot water to sprinkle around the teapot so that the temperature of the teapot from the outside reaches the inside. The teacups are also warmed by the hot water. After 30 seconds of steeping the tea, the tea can be brewed and drunk.
Shan Tuyet tea table of Mong people
The way to drink Shan Tuyet tea follows the contemporary tea drinking principle of "first water, second tea, third cup, fourth pot, fifth friends", meaning that the most important thing when drinking tea is water, second comes tea, third is the tea cup, fourth is the teapot and finally the person enjoying the tea.
Pour hot water to make tea
Shan Tuyet Tea is a precious specialty of the Ta Xua people. Until now, this premium tea still fascinates many diners coming to Ta Xua. Shan Tuyet Tea is currently produced by the Northwest Tea and Specialty Company Limited, and is affectionately called “The number one famous tea in Vietnam”.
Finished product of ancient Shan Tuyet tea
Currently, the Shan Tuyet tea brand has 3 main types of tea, which are bamboo tea, cloud tea and ball tea. Depending on the preferences, each customer will have different choices. When coming to Ta Xua, remember to stop by and buy a package of Shan Tuyet tea as a gift for your loved ones!
