2024 Dragon Well – Long Jing Cha – Zhejiang Hangzhou Green Tea (group varieties)

Longjing 43 is a clonal national variety bred from Longjing population by Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Shrub type, middle leaf type, semi open, densely branched. The period of one bud and one leaf is in the middle and last ten days of April. The dry samples of one bud and two leaves contain about 3.7% amino acids, 18.5% tea polyphenols, 12.1% catechins and 4.0% caffeine.

Before Sui and Tang Dynasties, Hangzhou tea culture was in the rising stage. During the Three Kingdoms and two Jin Dynasties, the economy and culture on both sides of Qiantang River gradually developed, Lingyin Temple was built, Buddhism, Taoism and other religious activities gradually prevailed, the famous mountains and rivers of West Lake were gradually developed, and tea was planted and spread with the establishment of Taoist temples. After the opening of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, Hangzhou became a famous city of great wealth in the southeast due to its convenient land and water transportation. At this time, tea was widely cultivated in Hangzhou.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, Longjing tea area had initially formed a scale. At that time, the tea were listed as tribute products. In the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a record that “the sprouts were taken with one leaf and one shot, which was especially precious”. In the Yuan Dynasty, Longjing tea began to have a good reputation. Yu Ji, a tea lover, wrote a tea drinking poem about Longjing, in which “wandering on Longjing, clouds rise and clear, it is widely sung that when you cook golden buds, you can’t bear to gargle three times”. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong went to Jiangnan six times and Longjing four times. He wrote six Royal poems about Longjing tea, and personally granted “Eighteen royal tea trees”, which promoted Longjing tea to the highest status. Later, Longjing tea gradually became the first famous tea in China. Tea Blog