A precious gift

Tea tips processed the Anhua way and lightly compressed into bamboo baskets are one of the multiple variations of Anhua Dark Tea. They are most often referred to as Tianjian Tea (天尖茶), which can be translated as ‘Heavenly Tips Tea’.

While other variations of Anhua Dark Tea, produced with bigger leaves, were historically mostly transported into northwestern China, these more ‘delicate’ tips were prized gifts exchanged among the more wealthy drinkers. They were therefore also dispatched into the capital.

The name for the most well-known grade of tea tips from Anhua County, Tianjian, quite naturally also became the designation for this Anhua Dark Tea variation made with tea tips. There is however an even more precise classification of tippy leaves used by Anhua producers:

With multiple tiers

• Yajian (雅尖) or ‘Elegant Tips’ is a grade I have only heard a couple of producers use for the very smallest tips, similar in size to those used for the tippiest green teas.
• Chunjian (春尖) or ‘Spring Tips’ is a more recent grade used by some producers to designate the first tips picked in early spring.
• Tianjian (天尖) or ‘Heavenly Tips’ is nowadays the most common grade for tippy leaves from Anhua County.
• Gongjian (贡尖) or’ Tribute / Gift Tips’ is used for tea tips that are slightly bigger than usual for Tianjian grade.
• Shengjian (生尖) can be translated as ‘Tips for Everyone’. They are the bigger tips that were not used for gifting.