Chinese Green Tea - Ping Shui Ri Zhu (平水日铸)

Many Chinese tea drinkers are familiar with Gunpowder green tea, i.e. Ping Shui Zhu Cha (平水珠茶). It is a famous Chinese green tea from Zhe Jiang province. In his book, 4 World-Famous Chinese Green Teas, Mr. Chen introduced Ping Shui Ri Zhu (平水日铸). Although Ping Shui Zhu Cha was evolved from Ping Shui Ri Zhu, the two should not be confused. A historical famous Chinese green tea by itself, Ping Shui Ri Zhu dates back to Song Dynasty. Local government brought back its production in early 80's, and is a having a big push to regain its old fame.

Linda

www.teahub.com

2010 Spring Tea Update

2010 is no doubt a challenging year for Chinese spring tea production. By estimate, spring tea production in Yunnan will experience 50% reduction due to the extreme draught condition. Recent news reported that 90% tea plantations in Yunnan are impacted by the draught. And the cold weather had delayed West Lake Long Jing harvest to late March, and production level is expected to be down. Bi Luo Chun harvest was also delayed by the cold weather. Down south, the cold weather also cost FuJian tea industry dearly. FuJian is the production region of black tea, white tea, and oolong tea. The cold weather not only caused delay of spring tea harvest, also impacted quality.

We will post updates as new teas become available.

Linda

www.teahub.com

Tradition vs. Profit

I came across a news recently that a Wu Niu Zao grower in ZheJiang produced lightly roasted Oolong from Wu Niu Zao tea tree leaves. This definitely comes with tremendous financial benefits. Traditionally, Wu Niu Zao is only harvested in early spring to make Yong Jia Wu Niu Zao green tea. With the new development, Wu Niu Zao can be harvested again in late spring to make Oolong, a tea that is gaining popularity now.

While we support the effort of new tea R&D, I am concerned about the trend of chasing popular teas for profits. Wu Niu Zao is both a tea tree name and a tea name. Although Wu Niu Zao is a wonderful green tea, its name is quite often associated with faked West Lake Long Jing made from Wu Niu Zao leaves. During the Pu-erh heydays, almost every tea producer in Yunnan was making Pu-erh. Green and black tea raw materials were all put into making Pu-erh. People later realized that not all of them were suitable for making Pu-erh, and not all the producers were skillful at making Pu-erh.

I will be thrilled to celebrate and promote the birth of a new tea if the grower gives his new tea a new name, instead of calling his tea Oolong. Otherwise, I’ll remain skeptical when I see a green tea producer making Oolong or an Oolong tea producer making Pu-erh.

What’s your view on this? I would like to hear from you.

Linda

Sipping White Peony on a sunny spring day

Linda has been bugging me about writing a review for our Spring Organic White Peony for days. Finally, on this sunny spring day, I sit down and begin blogging….

Well, where share I begin? This is a lovely tea. Upon opening the foil bag, I found myself happily surrounded by this intense, albeit pleasantly refreshing aroma. “This must be a good one” I said to myself. I brewed a cup in a white Gai Wan. A complex and refreshing aroma rose from the cup. Sipping it is another joy. It left a clean, crispy feeling in my mouth and I could not help noticing the sweet after taste dancing on my tongue.

At $0.40 per brewing, this is one of my favorite daily drinks now. Did I mention that White Peony also has medical benefits?

Alex
Happily drinking White Peony in GuiYang
http://www.teahub.com/

Ri Zhao Green Tea, a gem from northern China

Grown up in northern China, Ri Zhao tea trees have longer winter time than their southern siblings. Significant day-night temperature difference is good for accumulation of many critical contents. Analyses show that Ri Zhao tea has higher catechin (13.7% higher) and amino acid (5.3% higher) than similar products from southern China. Ri Zhao’s unique climate and geographic condition give its green tea clear yellow-green liquor, strong chestnut aroma, mellow sweet after taste, long lasting infusions, and rich contents of vitamins, minerals and trace minerals (selenium >=25mg/kg).

After some extensive search, we are now able to offer the best of Ri Zhao Green Tea to our customers.

Linda
www.teahub.com

This Year’s Xi Hu Long Jing Won’t Be Available Till End of March

According to recent news, this year’s Xi Hu Long Jing won’t be available till end of March. Therefore, those on market now are all fakes.

Experts in the industry told reporter that Long Jing tea buds just started to show up on tea trees. If weather permits, customers should be able to taste this year’s Xi Hu Long Jing by end of March.

Tea Lovers at JinYuXuan Tea House
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Autumn Oolong

Leaves are changing colors and Autumn Oolongs are coming out. Fall is an exciting season for Oolong lovers. Autumn Oolongs are known for their pleasant high aromas. Weather conditions in fall are especially good for the formation and accumulation of those aroma particles. On the other hand, leaves of Autumn Oolongs lack the particles, such as amino acid, that contribute to the pleasant, while sophiscated, long lasting tastes of Spring Oolongs.

Generally speaking, Spring Oolongs are considered the best followed by Autumn Oolongs. If the high aromas of Autumn Oolongs are what you are seeking for, it is the season for a wonderful cup of Autumn Oolong.

Linda
www.teahub.com

Majority of Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun are from Si Chuan

Recent news from ChengDu Business Paper said that 80% Long Jing (from Zhe Jiang), Bi Luo Chun (from Jiang Su) on the market are actually from Si Chuan. According to the news, unethical business people purchase Si Chuan teas at low prices and sell them as Long Jing or Bi Luo Chun at 3 to 4 times the paid prices.

An expert told the reporter that appearance of real Long Jing and Si Chuan tea, Zhu Ye Qing, are quite similar. It is very hard for regular people to tell the differences. Experts from Tea Research Institute also said that Long Jing demanded high prices while its production was low. Therefore, some business people produce Si Chuan Long Jing to make high profits.

For real tastes of authentic Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun, check out our selections. More talks and videos regarding Long Jing and Bi Luo Chun can be found at our Green Tea Talk .

More from our blog: Reading Long Jing Tea Leaves - learn to identify faked Long Jing.

Tea Lovers at TeaHub
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