first kiss

a 2026 ancient tree red tea from Tây Côn Lĩnh Mountain in Ha Giang, Vietnam.

this is the new vintage of our best selling red tea. A deep & complex baked red tea made by our dear friends Hong & Yen from the wild tea trees directly across the path from the karma house. these are trees under humble care of the quang family, a red dzao family of three generations under one roof, with these trees as their backyard for the past 200 years at least. 

throughout the last season, the whole mountain had no electricity, which means all tea from the 2026 spring season was 100% handmade & nature guided.

basically what this means, is the raw tea itself before becoming a specific genre (red, white, etc) is subject to the influential hand of nature. if we want to make red tea, but the sun isn’t out, then we must listen to the weather, adapt and allow the patterns of nature to guide the way.

nature has a way of rewarding greatly when we listen to it, but i’ll let that speak for itself.

this year’s first kiss was roasted with longan fruit charcoal, known for its deeper influences on roasted tea. it’s cleaner in the sense that it interferes less with the tea and doesn’t bring any unwanted profiles to the leaf, but rather brings forward a special ~something extra that has earnt it a wonderful acclaim amongst generations of tea roasters.

its influence on first kiss is very exciting, and i personally believe its the best vintage/production we have tried so far!

“When the first rays of spring's sun come to dispel the dull cold of long winter days, the old tea tree wakes from a long sleep, 
sprouting green shoots that stand out above musty spindly branches.
I gently work with the young buds, but tremble with intense emotion.
Each hour, every minute, and every second the tea leaves change,
giving off the fragrance as if telling me the story of the season.
Then she changes her young green outfit to a dark pink wing, dotted with distant chalk rose pink.
A seductive floral scent that contains all the scents of spring flowers, 
A delicate silk-like sweetness that makes me flutter. 
Suddenly I see a couple in naive, naive confusion.
I call it the first kiss.”