West Lake Longjing tea
West Lake Longjing mainly refers to the roasted green tea produced in the area of Longjing West Lake in Hangzhou, which is famous for its "green color, fragrant fragrance, sweet taste and beautiful shape", and is known as "the first of China's top ten famous teas". In 2001, West Lake Longjing tea was included in the list of products protected by geographical indications in China.
According to the classification of origin, Longjing can be divided into four categories: lion, dragon, cloud and tiger. Among them, the lion is the area of Lion Peak in Longjing Village. The West Lake Dragon Well produced here is called Shifeng Dragon Well, which is the top grade of the West Lake Dragon Well. Its aroma is pure and its color is brown beige. Dragon, Yun and Tiger are respectively Wengjia Mountain, Yangmei Ling, Shangxia Manjuelong, Baihefeng area, Yunqi, Meijiawu, Shili Lang Bell West, Wuyun Mountain area and Tiger Run, Siyanjing, Chishanbu, Santai Mountain area. Only Longjing tea produced in these four regions is qualified to be called West Lake Longjing.
According to the classification of picking time, West Lake Longjing can be divided into pre-Ming tea and pre-rain tea. The tea before the Ming Dynasty is fried with the young shoots picked before the Qingming Dynasty, and it is the best of Longjing in West Lake, because its young buds are like the core of lotus seeds, and it is also known as the lotus heart. In the year when the temperature is colder, it will be slightly receded to two days before and after the Qingming Festival, and these days are called Qingming tea. This batch of tea is often sold with the name of the roaster. The tea before the rain is the young shoots picked before the rain in the valley after the Qingming Festival, also called Erchun tea, which is the excellent product of Longjing in West Lake. In the past, West Lake Longjing was no longer harvested after May 1 every year. With the improvement of the level of tea planting, now the West Lake Longjing has been harvested until the beginning of summer, and the tea at this time is called Sanchun tea, and the quality is average.
After picking, West Lake Longjing needs to be dried on a bamboo sieve for about half a day to reduce the grass taste in the tea leaves and make the moisture meet the requirements of frying. Then the new leaves are roughly classified, and the temperature and strength of the pot are determined according to the quality of the leaves. The whole process of roasting tea is divided into three stages: green pot, resurgence, and bright pot: the green pot is to preliminarily form the tea leaves into flat within 15 minutes, and the tea leaves are fried until they are dry; Re-damp is to flatten the tea leaves that have gone through the green pot step and re-damp them in a bamboo sieve, which takes about an hour; The pot is to add the rejuvenated tea leaves to the pot and fry them to dry, so that the moisture is less than 5%, and further set, it takes about 20 minutes. After the frying is completed, the tea leaves are cooled in the pot and the finished West Lake Longjing.
West Lake Longjing tea leaves are emerald green or brown beige, flat and smooth in appearance, and uniform in size. The aroma of the tea leaves is refreshing and long-lasting, the soup is green and clear, and the taste is sweet and mellow. In many local restaurants in Hangzhou, there are also special Hangzhou dishes such as Longjing shrimp and Longjing tea-fragrant chicken made with West Lake Longjing.
When buying West Lake Longjing tea, you can identify the quality of tea according to the color, feel, aroma and tea soup of the tea. The color of the fresh West Lake Longjing is turquoise, light green, the color is relatively fresh and moist, the tea soup is yellow and green bright after brewing, and the bottom of the leaves is tender and green. In terms of feel, fresh tea leaves have less moisture and a drier feel, and the tea stems will break when you pinch them lightly, and dry tea can be pinched into powder. The aroma of the tea is fragrant, rich and high, and the taste is mellow and fresh.
Generally speaking, the price of West Lake Longjing ranges from 200 yuan/jin to 8,000 yuan/jin. Its price is related to the growing area, tea tree varieties, production batches, picking seasons, and roasted tea skills. Due to the large number of tea brands, the list recommends West Lake brand, Gong brand, Royal brand, Lion brand, Lu Zhenghao brand and Shifeng brand. The above brands have a long history of tea planting and tea making, and the quality is guaranteed.
Purchase address: major tea dealers.
