Silver-tipped and large-leafed, this green tea from Yunnan pours pale yellow and carries a sweet, herbaceous aroma. The cup is smooth, with grassy, earthy notes running through vegetal, citrus, lemon, and date flavours — enough character to work through an afternoon, not just a morning wake-up.
Yunnan's tea history runs deep, back at least 2,100 years to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, when growers in the province served tea as tribute to the emperors of the day. Some of the oldest tea trees anywhere in the world grow there, a few possibly predating organized tea cultivation in the region altogether. Large-scale export out of Yunnan is a comparatively recent development, only picking up in the 18th century. The province's tea gardens now sit at elevations between 1,200 and 2,000 metres, in conditions that suit tea about as well as anywhere does: mean annual temperatures of 12 to 23°C, heat accumulation between 4,500 and 7,000°C, and 1,000 to 1,900mm of rainfall a year.
As a green tea, it carries polyphenolic catechins, EGCG chief among them, the compound most responsible for green tea's colour and character. Teas like this have long been drunk as part of an active, healthy routine, though it's worth treating that as tradition rather than guarantee.
To brew it, use water cooled to around 80–90°C and steep for three to five minutes. It stands on its own, or takes well to a twist of lemon if you want to push the citrus side forward and bring in a little bitterness.
