Before
3dtea’s story began in 2017. At age 15, I first visited Xiaohusai, a tea-farming village tucked away in the foggy mountains of Yunnan in southwest China. Yunnan is one of the world’s great tea regions, known especially for pu-erh and its rich tradition of old-tree tea.
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 tea – and its farmers’ stories – to customers across China. Over time, we raised more than $40,000 for the village to support the construction of paved roads, streetlights, and full scholarships for six girls to continue their education.
The original enterprise continues to operate today under new student leadership.
Now
3dtea was founded in 2026 to bring Xiaohusai tea further than ever: overseas, to the U.S.
We still source directly from the farmers I met nearly a decade ago. Each batch of tea is selected in small quantities among dozens of contenders for the perfect balance of flavor, age, and geography.
Every batch of tea travels straight from our farms to your cup. This enables radical transparency, fair compensation for farmers, and deeply delicious tea for you.
Our first selection is an old-tree Dianhong black tea grown in Xiaohusai. Naturally rich and sweet, it unfolds with notes of wildflower honey, ripe fruit, and malt.
Although Xiaohusai is best known for its pu-erh tea, I knew their black tea was a hidden gem when I first tasted it years ago. Forget the tea bags collecting dust in your office pantry: this Dianhong is unlike the flat, bitter black teas you know.
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.
P.S. "3d" also sounds like 山地, or "mountain land", in Chinese. We love a pun.
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.