→ Read the founder's story on Substack.
3dtea’s story began in 2017. At age 15, I visited Xiaohusai, a tea-farming village in the foggy mountains of Yunnan province, China. Yunnan is one of the world’s great tea regions, known for producing deeply flavorful teas shaped by its geography and history.
A young farmer poured me steaming black tea while his wife sorted through the day’s harvest, her hands moving with the ease of long habit. They were two of Xiaohusai’s 700 residents, who have cultivated tea for generations. I was moved by the beauty of their craft and angered by the poverty they did not choose. The people who produced this remarkable tea received little recognition and unfair compensation.
To help solve this problem, I started a social enterprise to bring Xiaohusai's tea – and its farmers’ stories – to customers across China. We raised $40k+ to fund scholarships for female students and infrastructure projects for the village. The original enterprise continues to grow today in China.
Now
I founded 3dtea as a new, independent venture to bring Xiaohusai's tea further than ever: to the U.S. We still source directly from the farmers I met nearly a decade ago. Our mission remains the same: to share exceptional tea while returning value to the place it comes from. 100% of 3dtea's profits go to Heart to Heart, a nonprofit focused on community development for the province.
Each batch of tea is selected in small quantities for the perfect balance of flavor, age, and geography. Our first selection is an old-tree Dianhong black tea grown in Xiaohusai. Although Xiaohusai is best known for its pu-erh tea, their black tea is a hidden gem. Unlike the flat, bitter black tea bags collecting dust in your pantry, this Dianhong is naturally rich and sweet. It unfolds with notes of wildflower honey, ripe fruit, and malt.
Our philosophy
3dtea is named for the dimensionality of tea – its flavor, its geography, the farmers behind each leaf. To us, luxury is access to intention: knowing where something came from, how it was made, and whose hands shaped it.
Each batch of our tea begins with a particular place, harvest, and group of growers. By bringing their tea directly to you, we hope to create something lasting: a closer relationship between the people who cultivate exceptional tea and the people who learn to appreciate it.
P.S. "3d" sounds like 山地, or "mountain", in Chinese. The founder of this brand loves any pun.
