Wu Yuan Ming Mei

Wuyuan mingmei is a type of green tea native to Wuyuan County in Jiangxi Province. The village is widely hailed as the most scenic of China’s countryside. The name mingmei literally means “eyebrow tea”. It describes the shape of the tea, which resembles a beautiful woman’s eyebrow, long and thin with a perfect arch.

Quality characteristics of Wuyuan Ming Mei tea:

Shape: curved like eyebrow

Color: green jade and bloom

Soup color: clear and bright

Aroma: fragrance and clean aroma lasting

Taste: fresh and brisk

Tea leafs: tender and even

Wuyuan green tea is historically famous. According to the record in Chajing, the only professional and culture-based book created by Lu Yu who was respectably called Saint of Tea, it was ranked top-level green tea in Tang Dynasty of China. Wuyuan tea was acclaimed to be the treasured in Song Dynasty, and in dynasties of Ming and Qing, Wuyuan green tea was ranked the list of royal tribute. In 1915, Wuyuan got the gold medal of Panama-Pacific Intenational Exposition. In 1935, in an authoritative book named All About Tea ,Wuyuan green tea was praised to be the best green tea in China. In 1999, Wuyuan green tea won the gold medal of Kunming International Horticultural Exhibition.

Wu Yuan is the hometown of Chinese green tea, where ridges and peaks rise one after another, ravine stream billow, rains come suitable and winds breeze gentle, and is a region abounds with famous tea in history due to its special climate and soil. WuYuan MingMei tea grows only in the WuYuan mountains and is harvested in small quantities in the early spring. The rich soil and abundant rainfall make the perfect growing environment for this delicious and fresh tea.

It is processed in 6 steps: 1) Plucked & air-dried in shade, 2) then it’s Sun-dried, 3) hand-rolled, 4) baked, 5) stir-fried, and, finally, 6) baked again. Wuyuan mingmei has a very thin layer of white hair on the surface.

Once brewed, the liquid is a light green with a tinge of golden sheen. The taste is fresh and somewhat intense, but not bitter. The finish is refreshing and crisp.

Brewing    Brew two or three 2-minute infusions at 80C. The recommended steeping time is 1 tbsp for 3 minutes in Celsius water.  steeped for 3 minutes as recommended for the first infusion and 5 minutes for the second infusion.