Diancha is considered the precursor of matcha - it is what Japanese monks would have encountered on their visits to China during the Song Dynasty, when they first brought tea bushes back to Japan.

Diancha is milled white tea - in this case, 2018 High Mountain Gong Mei - and is a truly incredible beverage! It is unlike matcha in that it is full of strong woodsy and spicy notes, with herbaceous and sometimes floral aromatics. While it doesn't mill to as fine a powder as matcha (as you can see in the picture, it doesn't streak as nicely across a sheet of paper, which translates to the last sip of the bowl being a little gritty), it easily matches it in terms of complexity and, we think, beats it in terms of the intensity of its effect.

A bowl of Diancha hits very differently than any other tea for us: it is an instant mood lift, and presents us with the clearest example of Cha Qi (Tea Energy) that we have encountered - even compared to aged Gu Shu sheng pu'er.

This is revivalist tea - it fell out of fashion in China when loose leaf came in vogue - and a truly enjoyable way to sip some history!