Xinyang Mao Jian (信陽毛尖)

archetype: Stream from the northern slope

A cool stream from a northern slope: a living grassy freshness, thin needle-shaped leaves.

History

Xin Yang Mao Jian is the northernmost of the ten famous Chinese teas, with gardens lying in Henan province on the border between subtropical and temperate climates. The cultivar is known from the Tang era and took its present form in the Qing. The leaf is gathered only before Gu Yu (20 April); it is dried by hand in several passes, keeping the curve of a 'hairy needle'.

Terroir

The standard is leaf from the Daiyanshan and Zhenleishan ranges; the 'imperial' Qin Yu cultivar is the highest in cleanness of profile.

Leaf

young grass, asparagus, green bean, a cool freshness long, cool, leaving in the throat 'the voice of mountain water'

Properties

rich in catechins and theanine; gentle stimulation, good for metabolism and overheating light, rising, cool; felt as a 'cold morning' moderate (30–45 mg)

Brewing ritual

a glass of 200 ml; 78 °C; 4 g / 200 ml. 40s — the stream wakes: grass, asparagus; 60s — the peak: green bean, a cool freshness; 90s — a long echo of mountain water.

When to drink

day and early evening. spring and summer. after a hot day, in head fatigue, for cool clarity