It’s been a while since we have commissioned a Xin Yang Mao Jian, one of China’s most renowned green tea with fame that rivals Long Jing. As Tea Drunk’s golden standard goes, a historically famous tea needs to satisfy our rigorous 4-point criteria to make it to our collection. It needs to come from the historic lot of a historic terroir, no newly planted trees nor in newly cultivated fields. Has to be harvested from the most revered cultivars from this historic terroir, in the case of green and yellow tea, it’s always heirloom tea trees through sexual reproduction (planted with seed, not samplings). It needs to be harvested and made on the best 1 - 3 days of the short 10-15 day season, sunny and cool days. This is to ensure that we capture the best a vintage has to offer. But just having the right location, the right trees and the right time is not enough. A historically famous tea, for it to deserve the prestige, needs to be made with the utmost skills and rigor, no corner cutting to save time or increase batch size. Long story short, this Xin Yang Mao Jian is harvested from indigenous heirloom tea trees from the most renown village of its historic origin mountain Che Yun Shan and is from the favored side of the mountain that faces southeast. The tea is 100% handmade and charcoal baked and Ti Xiang. The tea has gone through the one week resting time between primary processing and fining, as well as the three week mandatory resting time after fining that is required for all traditional teas. The result is a classic Mao Jian that is sharp but not aggressive, aromatic and grounded, umami and delicately floral, with long and layered aftertaste. Have a sip of regular water after you finish sipping the tea and see how much your palate has been transformed by this amazing tea. This is one of my favorite green teas. I think it embodies the essence of a historically famous tea that makes me understand why past connoisseurs were so enchanted by it. I hope you enjoy it just as much!
