Consistency
A grade that holds across reorders
When a tea is ordered to a GB/T grade, the second shipment matches the first within the standard’s tolerance — not to a photograph or a memory of last season.
Standards & compliance
China’s national tea standards, applied to your order
Every tea we list is described against the standard that governs it in China — the GB/T system, with ISO cross-references where an international standard exists. That is what lets a spec sheet mean the same thing to you, to us, and to the factory: a named class, a defined grade, and a method anyone can check against.
The system
What GB/T is, in one paragraph
GB/T standards are China’s recommended national standards, published through the national standards body and maintained for tea by technical committee TC339. One standard, GB/T 30766, defines the six classes of tea; a family of product standards then sets the grades, sensory profile, and physico-chemical limits within each class. We keep the standards texts on hand and align each of our teas to them across 41 research tracks — so a listing is not a marketing word, it is a class and a grade.
By class
The six classes and the standards that govern them
Chinese tea is classified by how the leaf is processed, not by colour alone. Each class below has a governing GB/T standard — the reference we cite on every spec sheet.
| Class | Governing GB/T standard | What it standardises | ISO reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All — classification | GB/T 30766-2014 茶叶分类 |
Defines the six classes plus reprocessed tea; the backbone every product standard sits under. | ISO 20715:2023 |
| Green 绿茶 | GB/T 14456 (parts 1–6) 绿茶 |
Basic requirements plus large-leaf, small/medium-leaf, gunpowder (zhūchá), chunmee (méichá), and steamed types. | ISO 11287:2011 |
| Red / black 红茶 | GB/T 13738 (parts 1–3) 红茶 |
Broken (CTC), congou (gōngfu), and souchong (xiǎozhǒng) red teas. | ISO 3720:2011 |
| Oolong 乌龙茶 | GB/T 30357 (parts 1–7) 乌龙茶 |
Basic requirements plus tiěguānyīn, huángjīnguì, shuǐxiān, ròuguì, dāncōng, and fóshǒu. | ISO 20716:2022 |
| White 白茶 | GB/T 22291-2017 白茶 |
Grades of white tea, from báiháo yínzhēn down to shòuméi. | — |
| Yellow 黄茶 | GB/T 21726-2018 黄茶 |
Grades of yellow tea across bud, bud-and-leaf, and large-leaf types. | — |
| Dark 黑茶 | GB/T 32719 (parts 1–5) 黑茶 |
Basic requirements plus huājuǎn, xiāngjiān, liùbǎo, and fúchá dark teas. | — |
| Pǔ’ěr 普洱茶 | GB/T 22111-2008 地理标志产品 普洱茶 |
Geographical-indication standard for raw and ripe pǔ’ěr: protected origin, material, and process. | — |
Named geographical-indication teas — xīhú lóngjǐng, bìluóchūn, ānjí báichá and others — carry their own GI standards on top of the class standard. We cite those per SKU on request.
Safety & method
The standards your QC actually checks against
Product standards describe the tea. A second set governs safety and measurement — the numbers an importer’s quality team and customs both look for.
Pesticide residues
GB 2763 — the national maximum-residue-limit standard for food, including tea. We arrange multi-residue lab testing of your specific lot against it, quoted per lot.
Contaminants
GB 2762 — limits for contaminants such as heavy metals. Reported alongside residues on the per-lot certificate of analysis.
Sampling & measurement
GB/T 8302–8314 — sampling, moisture, total ash, water extract, and related physico-chemical methods. This is how a grade becomes a measured number, not an opinion.
Sensory brewing
ISO 3103 and GB/T 23776 — the standard brew for sensory evaluation, so a cupping score is repeatable across our table and yours.
For your business
What standards-referenced sourcing gives you
Documentation
Spec sheets that survive a buyer’s audit
Each listed tea ships with a spec sheet referenced to its class standard, ready to sit in your supplier file next to the export document pack.
Verification
Numbers you can test, per lot
We hold no organic certification — instead we arrange lab testing of your lot against GB 2763 and GB 2762, with the report delivered before the balance payment.
Clearance
Fewer surprises at customs
A named class, a measured grade, and a full document pack — phytosanitary and health certificates, certificate of origin, CoA — are what keep a shipment moving.
Enquiry
Ask for the spec sheet on any tea
Tell us the tea and the volume, and we send the standard-referenced spec sheet with it. Honest framing throughout: we cite standards and arrange testing — we are not a certification body, and we will not pretend to be one.