Chinese tea and fine jewellery
210 pieces across 9 collections, bought in small lots and tasted before they are listed. Free shipping over CAD 79.00$.
Four things that decide the cup
Most disappointing tea is not bad tea — it is good tea brewed with water that is too hot, for too long, in a vessel that hides what it tastes like.
Weigh the leaf
A gaiwan takes 5 g to 150 ml — roughly two heaped teaspoons. Weighing once teaches your eye for good.
Cool the water
75–85 °C for green and white, 90–100 °C for oolong, a full rolling boil for rock oolong and pu-erh.
Pour fast, empty fully
A slow pour extracts unevenly and leaves the leaf stewing. Tip the vessel right over.
Add seconds each round
Start at 20–45 seconds and add 10–15 s per infusion. Good tea gives eight to fifteen.
Direct from the grower
No middleman and no export blend. We know the mountain, the cultivar and the pick date.
Dated by harvest
Every listing carries its season and processing method — a 2024 Dan Cong is not a 2022 one.
Brewed before listed
Each tea is scored gongfu and Western style before it earns a place on this site.
Secure card payment
3-D Secure 2 authentication. Your card number never reaches our servers.
A shop built on a tasting table, not a warehouse
We buy in small lots directly from growers and cooperatives in Fujian, Yunnan, Anhui and Guangdong — the same teas that are drunk in China, not the export blend. Every lot is tasted before it is listed, dated by harvest, and brewed in a gaiwan before we write a single note about it.
Direct from the grower
No middleman, no export blend. We buy the lot, we know the mountain, and we can tell you the cultivar and the pick date.
Dated by harvest
Every listing carries its harvest season and processing method, because a 2024 spring Dan Cong and a 2022 one are different teas with the same name.
Small, fresh lots
Green and floral teas are re-ordered every season and sold out rather than warehoused. Freshness is the whole game for unoxidised tea.
Brewed before listed
Each tea is brewed gongfu and Western-style and scored on both before it earns a place on this site. If it is not good in a gaiwan, we do not sell it.
Learn to brew it properly
How to brew gongfu style
More leaf, less water, shorter steeps, many infusions. The Chinese method that gets the most out of a tea — and is far more forgiving than it looks.
Read the guide → GreenWater and temperature
The single biggest reason people think they dislike green tea is water that is 20 degrees too hot.
Read the guide → Pu-erhStoring tea properly
Tea is a dried leaf that wants to reabsorb the world around it. Four rules keep it tasting like itself.
Read the guide →Answered before you ask
Anything not covered here, write to us — every message is answered by the person who chose the piece.
More about usGreen, white and lightly oxidised oolong teas are re-ordered every season and sold out rather than warehoused — the harvest date is on every listing. Dark oolong, black, white and pu-erh improve with age and are deliberately held.
A gaiwan and one of the softer teas: our Biluochun, Golden Bud Dianhong or Jasmine Pearls forgive almost anything. Every product page gives both gongfu and Western parameters, and the Gongfu Starter Kit includes a printed guide.
Every order is packed and dispatched from our warehouse in China within 48 hours, with tracking from the moment it leaves us. Shipping is complimentary over $79, otherwise a flat $9.50; express is $19. We do not quote a delivery date — the carrier and customs decide that, not us.
Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Diners Club and China UnionPay credit and debit cards, with 3-D Secure 2 authentication.
Your card details go straight from your browser to our payment provider over an encrypted connection and are never stored on our servers. We keep only the card brand and the last four digits so you can recognise the charge on your statement.
Tell us and we will replace it or refund it. You do not need to send a half-used tin back across a border. Unopened tins are returnable for 30 days for a full refund.
Yes, from 200 g per tea. Write to hello@northstarcart.test with what you are looking for and we will send a price list and samples.