Longjing is a famous green tea that has long ranked first among the top ten famous teas in China. Longjing tea got its name because it originated from the West Lake Tea Village and later became famous for its high quality. The best quality Longjing tea is Mingqian tea. Although it shows that the picking time and output of the Mingqian Longjing tea directly affect the price, why is the Mingqian Longjing so expensive?
It has long been known to tea lovers that you should drink fresh green tea. Mingqian tea is the best in Longjing. Mingqian tea, as the name suggests, is the tea that was picked before the Qingming festival. During this period, the growth of tea trees is slow, the number of germinations of the tea leaves is not much, and even fewer can reach the picking standard, so people often say Mingqian tea is as precious as gold.
The picking and making of Mingqian Longjing tea have excellent timing. It is well known that Longjing tea is picked sooner rather than later. The picking of Mingqian Longjing tea is before the Qingming festival. At this time, the Longjing tea trees grow slowly due to the lower temperature and have experienced the accumulation of nutrients throughout the winter, so that the leaves with rich mineral content are harvested.
Longjing's picking is not arbitrary. Before the Qingming Festival, the temperature is still relatively low, and the number of tea trees to germinate is also limited. The slow growth of tea trees will lead to a low germination rate. Generally, one bud and two leaves or one bud and three leaves are picked. And there should be no tea stems mixed into the tea. There are also very strict requirements for the methods used when picking. A skilled tea picker needs six days to pick the fresh tea leaves that can make a pound of Mingqian tea. In addition, factors such as weather, sunlight temperature, etc. must be considered.
As far as the roasting time is concerned, a pound of Mingqian Longjing tea takes six to seven hours to make. There are many ways to pan-fire Longjing tea, and you can only fry a small amount at a time. The shape of Longjing tea is flat and smooth, like the tongue of a bird. According to legend, after Emperor Qianlong went down to Longjing to drink tea, he picked a few fresh buds and wrapped them in a book. After returning to Beijing, Emperor Qianlong suddenly remembered the fragrance of Longjing tea, so he ordered a tribute to the flattened Longjing tea that he had packed in a book. Tea farmers didn't know what to do for a while. Later, when they had an idea, they pressed the tea leaves against the wall of the pan while frying, and pressed them while pan-firing, and processed them into tea with a flat shape to meet the emperor's requirements. This method has been handed down to this day and has become a unique technique for making Longjing tea. Although Ming Dynasty can be machine-made, most of it is made by hand still. The cost of hand-made tea is much higher, people will spare no expense to buy handmade Mingqian Longjing with better quality.
Whether tea tastes good or not has a lot to do with its composition. It is estimated that the amino acid content of Mingqian tea is higher than that of tea picked later, and the bitterness and astringency, that is, the content of tea polyphenols, is relatively low, which ensures that the tea tastes fragrant. The taste is mellow, and the price will naturally be higher. Many people are most worried about pesticide residues in tea. Mingqian tea basically does not need to worry about this problem, because it is difficult for any pests to withstand the cold of winter, so tea trees in early spring do not need to be sprayed with pesticides. In this way, the quality of Mingqian tea is the best.
When a thing is rare, it becomes precious, which is why the price of Minqian Longjing is high. In fact, when buying tea, as long as the tea matches your own habits, it is the best tea for you! Mingqian Longjing may not be the best for everyone, because Mingqian Longjing is more tender, so the taste is light. The tea picked in the later stage has a stronger taste. For tea lovers who like a stronger taste, the later Longjing is undoubtedly more suitable. Our suggestion is that when purchasing Longjing tea, do not blindly pursue Mingqian tea, but choose the one that suits you.