Product Overview
Facing the Yellow Sea, Mt. Laoshan or Mount Lao is located to the east of Qingdao. This tall and majestic mountain is famous for its marvelous mountainous scenery and coastal landscape. It is regarded as the most recognized mountain of all mountains on the coast of China. It also holds significant importance in Taoism. Laoshan is one of the most Northern tea-growing areas in the world with very cold climates. In 1950 some seedlings were transplanted from Dragonwell up to Laoshan village to see if they could cultivate tea there. They developed a way of building temporary greenhouse structures to protect the plants over the winter months and then allow the plant to grow, uncovered when the Spring weather allows.
Tea from Laoshan is gaining very rapidly in reputation due to its unique characteristics gained as a result of being grown at a higher latitude than any other tea within China. The high latitude makes it all the more difficult for the tea plants to grow which gives the tea a full and complex taste that is typically only found in high elevation teas that undergo similar strains. Laoshan’s soil composition and environmental conditions give this tea its unique characteristics. The result is a tea that tastes like a cross between a Chinese Dragonwell Long Jing and a Japanese Sencha. Nutty and sweet on one hand but brothy, umami and creamy on the other.
This Shandong Laoshan Green has small wiry twisted and rolled leaves. They are looser and rather small and tippy. It produces a yellow-green colored liquor. The flavor hits right away with smooth vegetal and roasted corn umami that's naturally sweet with a hint of astringency. The predominant flavors are vegetal, grassy and savory with nutty, toasty notes.
