2024 Amber Sunrise Sun-Dried Black Tea Cake 200g

It’s been quite a journey for us to find a ‘sun-dried’ black tea that we truly love. As the name already suggests, this black tea isn’t traditionally roasted to stop the oxidation, but sun-dried. It’s exactly the balance between the oxidation and drying process that makes producing this unique tea particularly challenging. During our journey, we’ve tried ones that are poorly sun-dried with a rotten taste, to ones that are really fragrant but not well oxidized resulting in a lack of body.

The Ultimate Sun-Dried Black Tea

With the launch of our very first sun-dried black tea under the Teasenz label, we believe we’ve curated the ultimate tea in its category: Amber Sunrise. Imagine a regular black tea, but with a thicker body, more complex flavour, and an aroma that transforms in your mouth: from wood, grass, spices and hints of smoke, into a palette that features a bouquet of red flowers and berries, as well as the sweetness of lychee. It’s the perfect tea to drink during Autumn, Winter, and Spring. As you sip the tea, it will feel like a warm embrace of the morning sun.

Origin: Banggai, Lincang

The tea leaves for this tea are harvested in Banggai village of the Lincang tea region. It is located at 1400m on the west bank of the Nanmeng River. The area has a high average annual temperature of 26ºC and abundant rainfall, which makes the tea leaves rich in nutrition. This is reflected in Banggai tea's rich aroma profile and lingering aftertaste.

Sun-Drying & Aging Potential

The tea leaves are initially processed like a traditional Yunnan black tea, followed by an additional sun-drying step on bamboo sheets for several hours. As a result, the sun-dried tea leaves develop a distinct aromatic profile and excellent aging potential.

As a result of sun-drying, this black tea doesn’t expire. In fact, when stored well, it will age beautifully like a pu erh tea.

While most sun-dried black teas are directly compressed into tea cakes, the 2024 Spring tea leaves used for Amber Sunrise are first stored loose for about 10 months. This allows the tea to age more uniformly before compression. In January 2025 the leaves were steamed soft, compressed into cakes, and indoor air dried. At last, the tea cakes are double wrapped in paper for optimal storage and aging. To protect the tea during its logistical journey, they're also tightly wrapped in bamboo sheets, which we call a ‘tong’ of 5 cakes.

Amber Sunrise is great to drink right now. However, if stored properly, we believe it could reach its full potential in 2027.