"Yunan Black Tea" is a general name for black tea produced in Yunan. There are two types of Yunan Black Tea: “Yunnan Kungfu Black Tea” and "Yunnan Broken Black Tea". First produced in 1939, "Yunnan Black Congou" is characterized by stout and strong sprouts, golden sharp ends, red infusion color and strong flavor. When it was produced in 1939, 15 tons of Yunnan Black Congou were sold to the UK. As the output increasingly grows, the tea has been exported to over 30 countries and regions in the world, such as Russia and Poland in Eastern Europe, Western Europe and North America.
Yunnan has a long history of tea planting and is home to big tea trees of over 1000 years and those as tall as dozens of meters. The big-leaf trees selected from these big tea trees are ideal breeds for black tea making, thanks to their high content of tea polyphenols, active polyphenol oxidases and strong sprouts. The black tea made of these breeds is golden in color and has lots of visible sharp ends. Moreover, the tea’s taste is strong and refreshing. It's one of China's best black tea types for export.
Yunnan Black Tea is best taken with sugar and milk. The tea’s taste remains strong after milk is added. A cup of infused Yunnan Black Tea is red and shiny. And the top-class tea usually leaves a golden ring on the cup at the point of contact and the tea turns turbid like cream when it cools. These are indications of good quality.