Tan Cuong Tea Region

Vietnam exports enormous quantities of cheap tea, and Tan Cuong is the opposite of that: a small area of hills west of Thai Nguyen whose green tea has been the country's most valued domestic product for a century, sold within Vietnam at prices that make export uncompetitive and drunk as the standard for what green tea should be - a strong, slightly bitter first taste with a sweet aftertaste that Vietnamese drinkers name specifically. The hills are planted in rows over red soil, picking runs from spring to autumn, and processing is done in the villages. Farms take visitors for picking and tasting by arrangement.

What to look for

• The country's most prized green tea - drunk domestically, rarely exported.
• Hills of planted rows - over the red soil west of Thai Nguyen.
• Bitter first, sweet after - the taste Vietnamese drinkers look for.
• Processing in the villages - and tastings by arrangement.

When to go

April to October, the picking season. A full day.

Good to know

Farm visits generally need arranging in advance rather than dropping in. Much of what is sold as Tan Cuong elsewhere is not. The area is working farmland with limited visitor infrastructure.

Nearby

Thai Nguyen city and its ethnology museum are east; Nui Coc lake is south.