China has 8 green teas to offer to the world

Green tea has evolved from a beverage to a fashion statement. Choose any medium, TV commercials or the Internet, and they will talk about how green tea can make you look lean. Surprisingly, people have responded well to such commercials. But do you know that green teas have to offer more than that?

Most of the time, people don’t know which variety of green tea they should look for. All they know is flavored green tea. Every time, it’s the same primary flavor as lemon green tea, ginger tea, or some herbal green tea. But what they need to look for is variety. There are eight varieties of green tea in China and seven in Japan. Each has to offer a distinct taste and flavor.

Table of Content

Biluochun

One of the finest is the Chinese green tea variety. It tops the list because of its imperial quality and processing techniques. It is from the Dongting mountain region in Suzhou, China. The tea plucking is mainly done in the spring, between the spring equinox and grain rain. The spring equinox is a time of year when day and night are of the same duration. The grain rain is the time near the end of spring when the days are stormy and hot, and it begins to rain. It has a small window of less than a month.

The plucking begins with the first bud and a fresh leaf large enough to look like a finch’s tongue. It takes around 68k to 74k buds, or tender shoots, to make 0.5 kg of tea. The number can go up to 90k.

The roasting technique is the key step in the making of Biluochun tea. Because of its unique nature, the Dongting Mountain Bilouchun tea processing techniques earned its place in the National list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in 2011.

Green tea roasting Steps

It needs the skilled hand of a tea roaster to make the tea. The roasting starts at a higher temperature and gradually decreases. The whole process is handmade and done in a wok with a wood fire. The saying goes, “Keep your hand on the tea and keep kneading and roasting.”

• First roast- 190 to 200 °C for 3 to 5 minutes. It is a process of withering.
• Second roast- 70 to 75 °C for 12 to 15 minutes. It is the pan-frying or killing of the green process.
• Third roast- 50 to 60 °C for 13 to 15 minutes. During this step, the tea master rolls the leaves in a kneading action.
  • Drying – 30 to 40 °C for 6 to 8 minutes. The tea master shakes and separates the leaves.
• Fourth roast- The third step is repeated for the second time.
• It takes 45 minutes to roast 150 g of fresh buds.

The roasted leaves look like coiled snails, thus the name Biluochun, where Bi stands for green, Lou is the snail, and Chun is spring. It has a fruity taste and a floral aroma.

Longjing (The dragon well tea)

The tea is named after Longjing village in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. This village had a well whose water moved like a dancing dragon when the rain poured on the water’s dark surface. The village got its name from its famous well. The longing tea leaves move like a dancing dragon when steeped in water at 80 °C.

Tea was known as Gongcha, or imperial tea, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The tree of Longjing tea from the Qing Dynasty that gained fame still exists. The tree still produces high-quality tea, which is auctioned annually at the price of gold.

The plucking starts before the Qingming festival. The Qingming is the 15th day of the Spring equinox. This time of plucking makes tea of high quality. One bud and one or two leaves are ideal. The plucking may continue until the grain rains. But the early spring produces the finest of the Longjing.

It is mostly handmade. The processing starts with drying the leaves for half a day. Then the pan-frying process starts. On a preheated (80 to 100 °C) wok, 100 g of leaves are spread. The tea roaster repeatedly grabs and shakes the leaves. Once they reach a specific temperature and moisture content, he switches to pressing. The process continues with constant pressing, shaking, and throwing for 12 to 15 minutes.

It derives a golden green color with feather-like leaves. It has a sweet aroma of chestnut flavor.

Luan Melon Seed Tea

The brewed tea leaves of Luan melon seed tea resemble melon seeds. It is from Luan City, Anhui Province, China. It is different from all other teas, as the plucking doesn’t involve a bud or tender shoot. Instead, the third or fourth leaf from the shoot goes into making the tea. To achieve good quality, a fully opened-up leaf is required. A curled or too-tender leaf won’t shape like a melon seed. The stem is removed from the leaf end to get a broad, flat leaf.

The processing of Luan melon seed tea is unique.

• The first roast is a kill-green process where the roaster fries the leaves in a wok at high heat.
• In the second roasting, the tea roaster whisks the leaves with a broom at lower heat. The whisking action shape each of the leaf into tiny rolls.
• The roaster then put the rolled leaves into a bamboo basket. It is exposed to live charcoal on and off until dry. This is the baking process.
• The process completes with the gradation of the tea leaves.

Gunpowder tea

Gunpowder tea is best known for its appearance and smoky aroma. The green tea is smoked and not pan-fried after the withering. Then each of its leaves is rolled into a pellet before drying. The tea pellets look similar to gunpowder, hence the name. The finest gunpowder will have small, tightly bound pellets. They are shiny. Green tea or oolong tea, on the other hand, is sometimes sold in pallets. These are not the original gunpowder teas.

It originally comes from the Pingshui region of Zhejiang Province in China. The pallets are smaller and compact. It stays fresh for a long time. The brew is greenish-yellow with a smoky aroma and smooth, stimulating taste.

Gunpowder has varied uses across the globe. Say Kashmiri noon or sheer chai, Moroccan or Algerian mint tea, and Mandarin pearl tea. It found its way to a daily course or special occasions.

Chun Mee

It belongs to Jiangxi Province. Chunmee means the eyebrows. It is named so because it looks dusty. It has three simple processing steps: hand rolling, panfrying, and drying. The brew has an astringent taste.

Tai Ping Hou Kui

It grows in the Anhui province, and the best of the lot comes from the village Houkeng, Hougang, and Yanjiachun. It comes from the variety Shi Da Cha which has large leaves. The plucking starts when about 10% of the trees grow to one bud and three leaves form. The picking happens in the mid of April during sunny days, not on rainy days. It takes one bud and three to four leaves to make the tea.

The traditional processing includes pan-frying and a series of baking steps;

• The tea roaster tosses and turns the 100 – 150 g tender leaves in a pan at 100 to 120 °C. The tossing height increases with time. This action helps to reduce water in leaves. After 2 to 3 minutes and about 120 tosses, the leaf turns white and non-sticky with white bubbles on edge.
• First stage baking;
  • The tea roaster bakes the leaves on live charcoal at four different temperatures. The temperature decreases gradually from 100, then 90, then 80, then to 70 °C. Each step lasts for 2 to 3 minutes. The leaves are flattened and straightened during the baking.
• Second stage baking;
  • After a short cooling period, the second baking starts. First, at 70 °C, the leaves are dried and pressed for 2 to 3 minutes and then cooled down. The cycle repeats 5 to 6 times. At 60 °C, the drying time is 4 to 5 minutes, and the cycle repeats 4 to 5 times. But, the last drying is without pressing.

Huangshan Maofeng

Maofeng green tea is produced on Huangshan Mountain in the Anhui province of China. The early spring is the ideal time for plucking. The picking stops before the Qingming festival. One bud and the first leaf are suitable for the tea.

It takes two major steps to process the tea leaves. Panfrying first, followed by drying. The drying is done by baking on live charcoal. It is a slow heating process. The process of drying follows the grading of leaves. It is to separate the tiny leaves from the big ones.

Xinyang Maojian

The Maojian tea plant grows in Xinyang, a city in Henan Province, China. It is one of the most popular green teas. In 1915, it won a gold medal at the Panama International Exposition. It won first place in the Comprehensive Quality Category of green tea in 1990. By 2022, it was ranked third on the brand value list, just behind West Lake Longjing and Puer tea.

The plucking takes place five times a year. Early Spring (before Quing ming), Before the rain, Springtail (Before the end of spring), Summer tea (end of June to July), and Autumn tea (after August). One bud and a leaf is the ideal plucking method. The tea leaves go through many steps to reach a final product.

It starts with;

• Spreading tea leaves in the bamboo sieves for 4 to 6 hours at 20 °C.
• Fixing or frying the leaves for 120 s at 200 °C.
• Rolling the leaves for 40 minutes at 20 °C.
• Scattering the rolled leaves for 15 minutes at 86 °C.
• Shaping the leaves for 6 minutes at 115 °C.
• Drying the shaped leaves by baking for 20 minutes at 80 °C.