Myanmar black tea
Black tea from the Shan highlands of Myanmar, grown largely on old seed-grown stock botanically continuous with Yunnan’s. Very little is exported as leaf tea; the country’s tea is better known domestically as lahpet, the fermented pickled leaf eaten as a food.
Character
Broadly Yunnanese in character, sweet and malty with a woodier edge, from stock that never went through a modern breeding programme.
- Flavour
- Sweet, Woody, Fruity
- Aroma
- Malty
- Mouthfeel
- Full bodied, Smooth
- Complexity
- Straightforward
- Notes
- malt, dried fruit, wood
- Aftertaste
- Rounded with a woody finish.
Bold intensity: full-bodied, astringent or bitter enough to lead the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- Not recorded — blends have components rather than a place.
- Oxidation
- Fully oxidised
- Harvest
- Year round
- Processing
- Withering → Rolling and shaping → Oxidation → Drying
History
Myanmar’s tea is better known domestically as lahpet, fermented leaf eaten as a food, a practice that predates tea drinking in the region. Leaf tea for export is a comparatively marginal part of the country’s tea culture.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1–1.5 g/100 ml · 88–93 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
4–5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 5 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Thai black tea
Two South-East Asian black teas from highland assamica stock continuous with Yunnan’s. Both taste more Chinese than the borders suggest.
- Indonesian orthodox black
Two South-East Asian orthodox blacks from highland assamica, both earthy and both barely exported under their own names.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Aged Baozhong
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: fruity, sweet, woody, full bodied and smooth.
- Aged Gong Mei
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: sweet, fruity, woody, full bodied and smooth.
- Aged Shou Mei
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: sweet, fruity, woody, full bodied and smooth.
- Aged white tea cake
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: sweet, woody, fruity, full bodied and smooth.
- Anamalai tea
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: fruity, sweet, woody, smooth and malty.
- Assam clonal
Shares 5 descriptors with Myanmar black tea: sweet, fruity, full bodied, smooth and malty.