Lü Mu Dan (Green Peony) (綠牡丹)
archetype: Dancer opening a fan
A bundle of leaves that opens into a flower in the water: light green, orchid freshness, a slow dance in the glass.
History
Lü Mu Dan — the 'green peony' — is a hand-tied flowering tea from She County in Huangshan. Young shoots and buds of a single spring picking are bound with silk thread into a flat disc that slowly unfurls into a 'peony' in hot water. Its modern form was given to the tea by master Wang Guoxiang in 1986, joining the old craft of tied teas with the green leaf of Anhui's high-mountain gardens. This is a tea of spectacle: you drink it not only with the mouth but with the eyes.
Terroir
The best 'peony' is tied only from the first spring picking of a single garden — otherwise the disc opens unevenly.
Leaf
light, floral, with orchid freshness and the soft sweetness of young leaf clean, brief, leaving a floral coolness on the palate
Properties
rich in theanine and catechins; a gentle lift that refreshes without sharpness light, ascending, opening the chest; felt like an 'inhalation of a flower' low (25–40 mg)
Brewing ritual
a tall 250 ml glass — to watch the 'peony' open; 80 °C, soft; 4 g / 250 ml. 60s — the bundle begins to open: young grass, orchid; 90s — the peak of floral notes: white flower, fresh greens; 120s — a fine echo, light chestnut.
When to drink
morning and day. spring. when you want quiet beauty, for contemplation, for a slow meeting