"People follow the earth, the earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." This is how Chang Qing Quan describes his teamaking. "It's a metaphor," he explains, "To remind us to make tea without working against nature." Mr. Quan is perhaps the most consistently decorated producer in Muzha, a region his forebearers first arrived in the 18th century. With a honed, humble and methodical mind, even a maker as successful as Quan is perpetually tearing down what he knows and reinventing himself; whether it’s finding a new way to bake, variegating oxidations, or planting small plots on different parts of a mountain to bolster yields against climate change.

6g | 205F | 340ml | 2:45 minutes