Finding the Soul of Yunnan, One Cup at a Time
Chalu Diaries – Part One
“It’s been two weeks since I returned from a journey across Yunnan to visit our tea growing regions, and only now am I beginning to process what it meant.” Founder and CEO, Fraser Kennedy
In that time, I travelled from mist-covered volcanic mountains in Tengchong, through ancient tea forests in Lincang, all the way down to the tropical jasmine valleys of Yuanjiang. It was an epic of topography, terroir, and emotion—a journey that reminded me, at every step, why Chalu exists.
Tengchong came first: dramatic, high-alpine landscapes shaped by fire and cloud. There, in volcanic soil over 2,000 meters above sea level, we found oolong tea growing in one of the most extreme environments I’ve ever seen. This isn’t the soft, humid terrain usually associated with oolong. It’s rugged and raw—yet, somehow, perfectly suited. The master tea maker we met showed us how they manipulate oxidation, roasting, and toasting to coax new characters from the same leaf. We tasted multiple expressions of the same origin tea, each completely different. It reminded me of my days brewing at Goose Island—layering base, caramel and roasted malts to create nuance and structure. Only now, the medium was tea. The layers, just as important.
One of Tenchong’s Volcanoes where Chalu’s ‘Volcano Oolong’ is sourced.
Then came Lincang—a quick pit-stop on the road south, but a place that left the deepest mark. There we met the Bulang people, China’s smallest ethnic minority, and possibly the first to ever domesticate the tea tree. Their relationship with tea is sacred. Through oral histories passed down across generations, they’ve preserved traditions dating back over 700 years. We visited ancient groves, shaded and wild, where trees as old as 800 years still bear leaves with almost no bitterness. Sweet, mellow, full of life. Tasting those leaves, right of the tree, was an almost spiritual experience. This wasn’t just another agrarian product, but something so deeply ancestorial and connected to the land.
Finally, we descended into Yuanjiang, arriving late at night after more than ten hours on the road. The air was thick with the perfume of mangoes and jasmine, even in the dark. It was 30°C at 11pm. We were exhausted, but instantly aware we’d arrived somewhere extraordinary. Yuanjiang is Yunnan’s jasmine capital—a place where the entire town hums with the life-blood of a flower. Jasmine is in the soil, the air, the conversations. We met people whose entire livelihoods, families, and futures revolve around this little white blossom. And here we learned how jasmine tea is made—not by growing the tea and flower together, but by patiently infusing the dried leaves with fresh blooms over multiple nights, letting the oil and fragrance slowly pass from one to the other. The more cycles, the deeper the flavour.
It made me reflect on the deeper philosophy of what we’re building with Chalu. We didn’t come to Yunnan just for ingredients—we came to understand them. And through understanding, to respect them. Because when you grasp the full journey of a tea—from the ancient roots of the Bulang forests to the fragrant haze of a jasmine harvest at dusk—you realise you’re not just making a beverage. You’re becoming part of a lineage. One that spans generations, cultures, and terrain.
This trip reminded me why we chose Yunnan. It’s not just beautiful. It’s alive. Five lands in one province. Fifty, if you dig deep enough. It’s a collision of climates, people, and micro-cultures—each producing teas as distinct as the landscapes they grow in. For a brand rooted in place, there is no better canvas than this.
So how has this journey changed me? It hasn’t just reaffirmed my belief in what we’re doing—it’s deepened it. This isn’t just a passion project anymore. It’s a mission to capture something real, something wild and generous and true, and deliver it in every bottle we make.
With Chalu, you’re not drinking tea.
You’re tasting Yunnan.
And that, to me, is the real magic.
- Founder and CEO, Fraser Kennedy
