Pearl Orchid Yellow Mountain Furry Peak | Zhu Lan Huang Shan Mao Feng - Option: Sample 15 g

Pearl orchid is the name of the very fragrant Chinese herb Zhu Lan 珠兰 (Chloranthus spicatus), which is traditionally used to scent teas of all kinds and has a wide range of applications in Chinese medicine. In our case, the pearl orchid flowers were used to scent the Huang Shan Mao Feng, Chinese legendary green tea. Huang Shan Mao Feng 黃山毛峯 is one of the Top Ten Famous Chinese Green Teas. It is produced in the Huangshan Region of Anhui. Since the tea is covered by hair and a bud looks like a mountain peak, it has been named Huang Shan Mao Feng. The Huangshan area is a mountainous place. It has dense forestry and the weather is very cloudy and misty. The soil here contains rich minerals. Such a terroir creates ideal conditions for outstanding quality tea. Huang Shan Mao Feng has a special earthy and flowery vegetal aroma, which other Chinese green teas do not posses. Its taste is mellow sweet, very clean  with hints of natural Spring atmosphere. It has a very pleasant aftertaste.

The tea is based on the Huang Shan Da Ye Zhong 黃山大叶种 cultivar. The tea leaves are plucked in between the Qing Ming and Gu Yu seasons. After the tea leaves are plucked, they go for slight withering. The first night they are baked on the iron pan to stop the ongoing process of oxidation (shaqing 杀青). Next step is rolling. Unlike most of the other Chinese green teas, the rolling of Huang Shan Mao Feng is very decent. It keeps the shape of the natural tea leaf. Once rolled, the tea leaves undergo another baking which is divided in into two steps, Mao Huo and Zuo Huo. It is performed in a big wooden chest with charcoal at the bottom to supply heat. In the Mao Huo baking, the temperature is high and the tea inside must be tossed frequently to make sure drying is done evenly. It ends with about 30% of remainiing water in the tea leaves. After cooling down and resting for a while they sent back for Zuo Huo baking. Here the temperature is lower and the tea leaves stay till they are completely dry. In the case of our tea, it is additionally scented with pearl orchid flowers, which happens between rolling and baking. Leaves absorb the aroma in several stages, the same way as high quality jasmine teas are scented.