Longjing Tea
Tea is one of ancient China’s many inventions.
The English word “tea” is derived from the word te, which hails from the southern port town of Xiamen (Amoy). Although it was only introduced to Europe and America in the seventeenth century, human cultivation of tea plants dates back two thousand years in China. In fact, during the Neo-Daoist revival in the ninth and tenth centuries, the preparation and drinking of tea became an integral part of the life of the meditative scholar, who sought enlightenment through the contemplation of nature.
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The Categories of Tea
1) Green tea. This maintains the original colour of the tea leaves because they are not fermented during processing. Famous examples are Longjing tea of Zhejiang province, Maofeng of Huangshan Mountain in Anhui province and Biluochun produced in Jiangsu province.
2) Black tea. Developed after green tea, it incorporates fermentation within the baking process. The best brands are Qihong of Anhui province, Dianhong of Yunnan, Suhong of Jiangsu, Chuanghong of Sichuan and Huhong of Hunan.
3) Wulong tea. This represents a variety half way between green and black teas. It is a special tea made and enjoyed in Fujian, Guangdong and Taiwan – all located on China’s south-east coast.
4) Compressed tea. Also known as “brick tea” because it is compressed and hardened into a brick-like shape, this tea is convenient for transportation and storage. It is often supplied to nomadic peoples on China’s borders.
5) Scented tea. This is made by mixing fragrant flowers with the tea leaves during processing. The flowers most commonly used for this are jasmine and chrysanthemum.
How to make green tea
To make the famous Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea, leaves must be picked between twenty to thirty times between March and October. If the interval between pickings is any longer than ten days, the quality of the tea will be adversely affected, an experienced leaf-picker collecting six hundred grams or nine thousand tea leaves per day. For all but the very finest tea, these fresh leaves are parched by machine in electrically heated cauldrons. Our original six hundred grams of fresh green leaves, after baking , will produce one hundred and fifty grams of parched tea.
