An Tea, historically known as “Old Liu’an,” originates from the Qimen tea region of Anhui and traces its lineage back to the Ming-dynasty “Soft-Branch Tea.” It was once highly sought after across Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macau, and even Southeast Asian countries, earning the title of “Sacred Tea” and gaining renown both at home and abroad.

Crafted from carefully selected high-mountain tea cultivars of Qimen, this tea is made from tender buds and young leaves handpicked before Grain Rain (Guyu，谷雨)—from one bud with one leaf to one bud with two early-opening leaves—meeting the highest grade of An Tea: Special Tribute (Te Gong，特供). This year’s harvest began a week earlier than usual, resulting in even finer and more delicate raw material. Compared with the “Gongjian” grade, “Te Gong” is significantly more refined, with a well-balanced composition and particularly high amino acid content that gives the tea a sweeter, smoother, and purer taste.

This “Si Si Ping An” (Year of the Snake 2024 Special Edition) follows traditional An Tea craftsmanship, undergoing fourteen major processing steps and over a dozen meticulous sub-procedures—executed with precision and care. It adopts the distinctive “Twice Exposed” (Er Lu，二露) technique, in which exposed at night and charcoal firing alternate twice. This time-consuming and demanding method results in a gentler tea character and a rounder, fuller flavor.

The dry leaves are slender, tight, glossy, and covered in fine hairs, giving off an elevated fragrance that blends floral notes with gentle roasted aromas. After the Twice Exposed process, the fire becomes softer and more balanced. The liquor is a bright orange-yellow, with visible tea hairs, pronounced regional floral aroma, and a sweet, mellow, and soothing taste. The flavor becomes even more harmonious after one year of aging, with excellent potential for further transformation.

The brewed leaves are tender and brown-green. During brewing, a small amount of Ruo Ye (bamboo leaf wrapper) may be added, contributing a light rice-dumpling aroma that lingers long and pleasantly.

Name Interpretation: “Si Si Ping An”

Si Si: Taken from the lunar year Yisi (乙巳, Year of the Snake) in 2025. The doubled “Si” highlights the commemorative year and adds an auspicious, festive tone.

Ping An: Means “peace and safety,” serving as a New Year’s blessing while also echoing the “An” in An Tea, signaling the tea’s origin.

Overall meaning: A special-edition An Tea for the Yisi Year, symbolizing good fortune in the Year of the Snake and wishes for peace throughout the year.