Description

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Anhua Song Zhen Green Tea

Anhua Song Zhen is a green tea from Anhua County in China’s Hunan Province. There, its production meanwhile looks back on about four hundred years of tradition. A special feature is the elongated needle shape of the processed tea leaves, which is reminiscent of pine needles. This has also inspired the tea’s name, as “song zhen” literally translates to “pine needle”.

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The Tea Garden

SiamTea’s Anhua Song Zhen comes from a naturally cultivated tea garden near Anhua’s Yanxi town. The tea garden, located at an altitude of 950 meters, is planted with the “Yuntaishan Da Ye Cha” (= “big wild Yuntaishan tea”) cultivar.

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Picking

The picking time for the best quality Anhua Song Zhen green tea offered here falls around the middle of April every year. At this, the proper picking standard is the “royal standard” of 2+1 (2 leaves + 1 bud). This means,  one unopened young spring bud each together with its two youngest leaves attached qualify for picking. A  matter of course is the traditional hand picking required for the proper implementation of such a picking standard.

Processing

Anhua Song Zhen is processed according to the standard for green tea processing. This means that after the picking, heating the tea leaves in order to end the enzymatic oxidation processes follows an initial withering phase. For Chinese green teas, this usually represents a roasting process. After this, the mechanical “rolling” of the tea leaves on the one hand serves to distribute the juices evenly in the leaf. On the other hand, this processing step  gives the leaves their final needle shape.

Taste and Appearance

The long, thin needle shape of the tea leaves and their color are reminiscent of Japanese green tea. The mildly sweet, slightly hay-like fragrance exuded by the processed tea leaf also matches this impression. The same fragrance and sweetness reappears in the light yellow-green cup’s taste. The latter, however,  gains in complexity and depth thanks to the addition of sweet chestnut notes. These in turn are more typical of Chinese green teas.

Preparation

For preparation,pour 2-3g of tea leaves / 100ml with the softest possible water at a temperature of 85-90°C (boiling hot after calming). Then let steep for about 1.5 minutes for a first infusion. Thereafter, at least 2 more infusions at the same infusion temperature are virtually a must in terms of taste. Of these, the former only needs a few seconds, while the latter can infuse for up to a minute.