Panda tea (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: 熊猫茶), or panda dung tea, produced in the
Ya’an mountainous region of
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
,
China, is a type of
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
fertilized by the
dung of
panda
The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...
s.
When it officially went on the market in April 2012, it was reputedly the world's most expensive tea with 50 grams (approximately 16 cups of tea) sold for $3,500 (£2,200), or about $200 (£130) a cup. An Yanshi, a local panda tea entrepreneur, argues that the tea is healthy, given that pandas only consume wild bamboo and absorb only about 30% of the nutrients, and that it encourages "the culture of recycling and using organic fertilizers."
See also
*
Insect tea Insect tea refers to teas (in the broad sense, not always tea proper) made from leaves bitten by, and the droppings of, insects fed on specific plants. Most insect teas originate from the Southeast Asian region. They are often used in local tradit ...
*
Kopi luwak
Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet (''Paradoxurus hermaphroditus''). The cherries are fermented as they pass throug ...
, civet-dung coffee
*
Black Ivory Coffee
Black Ivory Coffee is a brand of coffee produced by the Black Ivory Coffee Company Ltd in northern Thailand from Arabica coffee beans consumed by elephants and collected from their waste. The taste of Black Ivory coffee is influenced by elephants ...
, elephant-dung coffee
References
{{Reflist
Chinese tea grown in Sichuan
Foods and drinks produced with excrement