Xiaotian Lanhua Green Tea

We bought this tea from the same family in Qimen City where we bought most of our Qimen Red Tea and the previously tasted wild green tea. It is from the nearby town of Xiaotian and comes from the mountains that encircle the town. From what I was able to find on the internet, this tea has won some local awards. The lanhua or orchid refers to how it tastes, reminding one of the smell of orchids. We spent around three hours talking about tea and tasting the various teas they had from the region. I remember this one was especially sweet and pleasant. I have not been drinking this tea as much as the wild tea but occasionally we will try some. It is really orchid sweet and mild.

This tea looks a lot like the Huangshan Mao Feng we bought in Anhui Province. It was obviously processed in the same manner and exhibits the hair that the mao feng teas have. It is very dark with only hints of green in it.

One can see the hair on most of the stalks like Mao Feng. The tea is processed like Mao Feng but with a little tighter wrap, making the tea look almost like sprigs of grass.

A little closer and one can see the just how the leaves have been wrapped and the hair on the stems. This tea looks like it could almost be a more oxidized tea than a green. It as kept very nicely in our refrigerator this past year but it is most definitely time to drink it up.

To steep this tea I used the glass tea outfit we bought on our last trip to China. I bought two of these "tea devices" and they work really well. I used boiling water that had sat for about three minutes to get the temperature down.



The color of the liquid is a pale gold and taste magnificent. The tea is sweet from start to finish with no real aftertaste. As with all sweet green teas, it reminded me of the artesian well a couple of miles from where I grew up in north central Oklahoma. Lots of mineral taste, flowery, sweet and very refreshing. This is a much better tea than the Huangshan Ye Tea I tasted yesterday. Believe I will have this tea for the rest of July. Makes a nice morning tea!