Mengding Huang Ya (蒙頂黃芽)
archetype: Wanderer in the mists
A wanderer walks through fog onto an ancient mountain: a thin golden porridge, a light sweetness, a millennial silence.
History
Meng Ding Huang Ya — 'yellow buds of Mount Meng Ding' — is the most ancient tea of China. By legend, in the second century BC the hermit Wu Lizhen planted seven tea bushes here; they are called 'the seven imperial bushes'. Since the Tang Meng Ding has been the chief 'gong cha' of Sichuan. The technology 'men huang' — steaming under damp cloth — gives the leaf a soft yellow sweetness and removes the green sharpness.
Terroir
The canonical Meng Ding Huang Ya is made only of buds from the northern slope; the 'imperial' grade is the leaf from those very seven ancient bushes.
Leaf
sweet porridge, autumn pear, acacia, a long soft note long, fine, golden; the aftertaste — an 'ancient echo' in the throat
Properties
rich in natural sugars and theanine; very mild stimulation, suits a sensitive stomach even, fine, ancient; felt as 'time flowing evenly' low to moderate (25–40 mg)
Brewing ritual
a 150 ml gaiwan; 82 °C; 4 g / 150 ml. 25s — the first fog: sweet porridge, acacia; 35s — the peak: autumn pear, warm honey; 50s — a long soft note; 80s — the finale — an ancient golden trail.
When to drink
morning and day. spring. for slow reflection, before an important writing, on a day of remembrance