Tribute Teas 贡茶

Tribute Teas (贡茶 gong cha) represent the highest level of teas historically: they are dedicated to royal families and their ancestral lineage, and they exemplify the highest achievements in the cultivation and traditional craftsmanship of Chinese tea. All of the Tribute Teas are packaged in boldly decorated silver cans that fit neatly into ornate carrying boxes. The craftsmanship of these incredible containers, that appear something like perfume bottles to us today, aspired to match the quality of the teas they held.

 

 

 

 

A recently published "Forbidden City Tribute Tea Collection" catalogs 50 kinds of Tribute Teas from 11 provinces since the Qing Dynasty. For the first time, a group of experts analyzed the teas and examined their origins one by one – their findings were unexpected. The 50 tribute teas originated from 11 provinces, amongst them Yunnan, Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan and Zhejiang. An impressive 11 are from Sichuan Province, and 8 of these are from Mengding Mountain. This extraordinary book showed, for the first time ever, the elaborate packaging and presentation of Tribute Teas. An impressive 11 are from Sichuan Province, and 8 of these are from Sichuan’s Mengding Mountain.

 

 

 

 

We are fortunate and grateful to be able to offer a small collection of teas that were historically Tribute Teas for the Emperor, the Imperial Palace and his family.