|
Bamboo Leaf, and some wonderfully written reviews by A Customer
|
Flattening tea tealeaves during processing has been a long tradition in green tea production in China, dating back centuries. Longjing is one of such teas. In quite a few different regions where tea makers are so good at forming the leaf shape a lot more tidily than Longjing, and employing a lower temperature to retain that natural greenness of the pluck, their tea looks like a miniature bamboo leaf. The name “Zhu Ye Qing” — Bamboo Leaf Green — thus came naturally. Much the same as Biluochun — Green Snail Spring — is a tea name. ( Some people want you to believe otherwise, and Google is not helpful in stopping those fake history )
|
Unfortunately in the unique situation in China, the name “Zhu Ye Qing” for tea has been trademark registered by a local corporation. Imagine “Single Malt” being registered by a brewery. Contrary to myths spread on the internet, the registration happened in 1999 for a corporation in Emei, Szechuan.
|
|
When it happened many traditional producers of this style of tea, whether in the same region or elsewhere, were immediately thrown in dismay, not sure how they should call their products. New names were invented, and some gave up altogether to produce other teas instead, such as Longjing, Maofeng, Queshe ( Bird Tongue ) etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many years ago I wrote a story in the Tea Guardian of the tea Mingshan Shihua. It is exactly one of those traditional producers affected.
|
This year, my producer of Kaihua Longding ( Kaihua is in Zhejiang province, quite far from Szechuan ) sent me his version of Bamboo Leaf. Due to a lower temperature processing, this tea has an even fresher, brighter nose than his Longding, while maintaining the same lively, brisk palate, only deeper and more delicately complex. He made only a few kilos of it this year as a test. And I think switching to this finer selection is a natural choice.
|
I call the tea Bamboo Leaf in English, as the tea should rightfully be named. In Chinese the name is Zhuye Qingding, with that “ding” character signifying the Longding origin. And a few other contextual meanings that maybe discussed in some other time.
|
|
Much like our supreme quality Longjing, this is a very fine tea for those who really appreciate quality.
|
|
|
|
A customer who can really appreciate quality and tell it well, whose pen-name is NN has continued to share his experience with our teas. His narrative shows in great details his sensory journey with each of the teas he bought from us. To me, it is not only a great encouragement, an appreciation of our efforts, but also a continuation of my personal learning of each particular tea. Understanding how others feel is as important as how I feel, how my colleagues feel of a tea. It also adds great dimension to my humble tea description.
|
Like NN’s presence, your presence is a company that I care. It makes me feel I am not alone in the quest for true quality. For that true taste. For that truth in the nature of tea.
|
|
|
Some of the recent reviews shared by NN:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  
|
|
Copyrights © 2023 TeaHong.com. All rights reserved
|
|
|
|
|
