Green tea 綠茶 Lǜchá is one of the most common and most frequently misunderstood types of tea. The essential taste of tea, green tea is as close to the character of the fresh plant as possible. Despite its ubiquity it can be a very intimidating category of tea to brew, because of its propensity for becoming bitter and astringent.
This flight begins with one of the most accessible green teas, indeed one of the most accessible teas in the world - jasmine green tea. Called "Green Lake Floating Snow" 碧潭飘雪 （Bì tán piāo xuě） in Chinese, this Sichuanese style of green tea is not scented with jasmine essence, rather, it contains actual jasmine flowers. The natural fragrance of the sweet jasmine flowers invites the drinker into a pleasurable experience whereby the refreshing taste of the green tea acts as a backdrop for the jasmine.
From there we move onto Su Mao Feng素毛峰 - like Floating Snow Jasmine, grown on Mt. E'mei in Sichuan province. One of China's 5 famous Buddhist mountains, the tea from Mt. E'mei is prized for its sweetness, robust green flavor, and hints of toasted grain. Made from the same green tea as Floating Snow, it showcases the tea itself, removing the added element of jasmine flowers to reveal the essential nature of green tea. The green tea in the Su Mao Feng is harvested earlier in the spring than the base for the Floating Snow, and is therefore a higher grade.
For the third tea we go east to Huangshan in Anhui province. The most famous green tea from this province, Taiping Houkui 太平猴魁 Tàipíng hóu kuí， is the favorite green tea of many people at West China Tea, including the founder. Known for its very long leaves and exceptional quality, this traditionally-produced Taiping Houkui has been included in this flight to represent Eastern Chinese green teas. The first two teas in this flight were very ordinary, rustic green teas from Western China, but the famous green teas of the East represent a highly refined tea production culture.
This flight is designed to guide even the most green-tea-averse to appreciate and enjoy the character of this most essential categories of tea and includes:
10g Floating Snow Jasmine Green
10g Su Mao Feng
10g Taiping Houkui
