Rui's Secret Tea Box

Rui’s Seasonal Secret Tea Box — Spring Collection (Limited Release)

A limited spring tea collection sourced across from Guizhou, China — including small-batch, non-commercial teas gathered directly from tea masters and village households. Seasonal, one-off and not repeatable.

Description

This is a seasonal tea box curated during the spring harvest in Guizhou, the most important time of the year for tea production.

In the past weeks, I travelled across the Guizhou region, tasting, making and sourcing teas directly from both award-winning tea makers and smaller village households. Some of them come from personal batches made during peak season, intended for the tea makers’ own use rather than for sale. Others are produced in domestic settings using traditional, non-commercial methods.

This is not a standardised collection but a limited release based entirely on what was encountered at the time and place of sourcing. Their availability depends on micro-seasonal conditions, local decisions and timing. Once sold out, they are unlikely to return in the same form.

Inside The Secret Box

A small selection of teas gathered along the way, each shaped by a different place, a different way of making, and the stories of the people and the land. 

1. Low-Caffeine Wild Red Tea from Ancient Trees
A naturally low-caffeine red tea from indigenous, ancient forest-grown trees, with levels measured at 0.01–0.1%. Almond-led with soft florals and a hint of vanilla, it is smooth, almost waxy in texture, and carries steadily across many infusions.

2. Grandpa’s Guan Guan Cha
Encountered in a village home, prepared over an open flame. Deeply sweet with a full, savoury richness and a clean brightness, with hints of nutty warmth. Especially suited for simmering and returning to throughout the day.

3. Pre-Qing Ming Green Tea (One Bud One Leaf 初展)
Fresh, sweet, and clear, with a lively brightness and no grassy sharpness. A lingering sweetness fills the palate, making it both refreshing and naturally thirst-quenching. A Guizhou green tea at its best.

4. Shiqian Tai Tea Hei Cha Brick 2020 (石阡薹茶黑茶磚)
A post-fermented tea similar to Liu Bao, made from indigenous Tai tea trees by an award-winning local maker. Smooth, full and gently earthy, with a clear amber liquor and lasting depth. Each portion is broken from a single brick and continues across multiple infusions.

Each tea offers a different expression of how tea is grown, made, and lived with across Guizhou today.

What Makes This Collection Different

This collection brings together two parts of Guizhou’s tea landscape that are rarely seen side by side.

On one side are refined seasonal teas made by experienced producers working at the highest level of craft. On the other hand, are indigenous household teas — small-batch, often unclassifiable by modern standards, and made for daily life rather than for the market.

Besides unique flavours and aromas, they also offer a more contextual view of how tea is crafted and lived with in Guizhou today.

How These Teas Are Chosen

Over time, I’ve come to rely on a few simple criteria, which are also the principles we’ve held from the very beginning:

Story
Each tea comes with a context — how it was encountered, who it came from, and why it was shared. Preference is given to teas that carry a strong bond to the land and relationship, rather than those produced for financial reward. 

Land
Grown in bio-diverse, chemical-free environments with living soil. 

Trees
Teas made using indigenous Guizhou tea trees — wild or semi-wild, typically aged 40+ years; or from long-term, beyond-organic farms I’ve known over the years.

People
Made by tea makers, families, and communities I know and trust.

Making

• Made in rhythm with nature, without fixed schedules, allowing each step to follow elemental conditions as they unfold. 
• Rooted in traditions passed down through generations, sometimes gently evolved through experience.
• The maker’s knowledge stands on its own, guided by practice rather than manuals.
•  Innovations, such as Dancong-style Oolong using Tai tea trees, are a bonus. 
  

Tasting

Each tea is revisited after sourcing to assess clarity, depth, aftertaste, and how it settles in the body. I select for teas with clear, expressive flavour and aroma, a grounded cha qi, and a feeling of ease in both body and mind.

Human considerations (人情味)
Attention to how people are rewarded throughout the process, including better financial rewards for the tea pickers and the closeness shared within the community. 

Available Options

Each box includes a balance of two types of Guizhou tea: seasonal teas from experienced makers (including small batches kept for personal use during spring harvest) and indigenous household teas made using traditional, non-commercial methods.

20g × 2 — Starter Set (Rui’s Selection)
Low-Caffeine Wild Red Tea from Ancient Trees + Grandpa’s Guan Guan Cha 
Best for: a simple, guided entry.

20g × 4 — Complete Seasonal Set
All four teas from this season’s collection.
Best for: a complete view across different places and ways of making.

50g × 2 — Personal Reserve (Rui’s Selection)
Wild Red Tea from Ancient Trees + Grandpa’s Guan Guan Cha 
Best for: returning to a few teas over time.

50g × 4 — Collector’s Treasure Box
All four teas in larger quantities, with a free hamper box and an additional rare surprise tea.
Best for: adding to your personal, unique collection and sharing with others.

As these are seasonal, small-batch teas from Guizhou, they are unlikely to be restocked.

Shipping

Worldwide shipping is included.

Orders are packed fresh from our Tea House in Guizhou, China. Typical delivery takes 8–16 days after dispatch. As tea is classified as a sensitive agricultural product, customs checks may occasionally delay delivery. Tracking updates will appear once the parcel is scanned at the destination border.

Cups of Joy from Home

May these teas bring you many cups of our beloved home — of the land, the people, and the season they come from — and carry the joy I felt while spending time with them.