Many Types of Green Tea

Health conscious individuals often drink green tea, but did you know that there were many different varieties? In this article, you will find out about 3 of the main types of green tea. You will normally need to approach a specialist gourmet tea company in order to buy the individual types.

1. Lung Ching (Longjing, Dragon Well)

Lung Ching tea, one of China's most famous green teas, has been celebrated in prose and poem, including works by famed Tang poet Su Dong po. It is known for "four uniques": its green colour, mellow taste, aroma, and beautiful shape. It is considered to have a cooling effect and is frequently served in hot weather.

The flat, green leaves produce a clear, yellow-green tea with a slightly sweet, aromatic fresh flavour and a lingering aftertaste which is one of this tea's particular characteristics.

Lung Ching means Dragon Well (the dragon is the king of the waters in Chinese mythology). The home of this tea is the village of that name west of the famed West Lake in Zhejiang province. Another growing area southwest of the lake is known as Nine Crooks and Eighteen Gullies (Jiuqu Shibajian), which includes Meijia Village and Lion Peak. At Lion Peak, Qing dynasty Emperor Qian Long drank this tea at the Wugong Temple. So pleased was he that he conferred the title Imperial Tea on the produce of the eighteen tea trees growing outside the temple.

Lung Ching has some unique and wonderful features. The finest grade, Qiqiang (Flagged Spear) Lung Ching has a bud and only one leaf, thus being younger and superior to the customary "two leaves and a bud" tea. In the cup, the buds float in the water with the leaves pointing upright like spears, hence the name. The next grade, with two leaves, is known as Queshe (Sparrow's Tongue) Lung Ching.

A pound of dry Lung Ching contains 25,000 bud-and-leaf sets, each snipped off individually by skilled fingers. Lung Ching, unlike other teas, is not rolled to shape the leaves. Pan-frying the leaves requires great skill to match the temperature to the tenderness of the leaves. Lung Ching tea won the Gold Medal with Palms at the 1988 meeting of the International Institute for Quality Selection.

The best infusion of Lung Ching is made with water from Hupao (tiger Run) Spring, one of four nearby famous for their clear, sweet water. This is a fault area of the Tiyun Mountains, with plenty of quartzite rock which provides good filtration for the spring water. Visitors to Hangzhou are almost always taken to Hupao Spring for a cup of Lung Ching tea.

2. Xin Yang Mao Jian

Henan's Xinyang prefecture has been famous for its Maojian tea since the Tang dynasty. Today it is one of the country's most thriving areas of agricultural and sideline production, quite often visited and written about, so its tea is being sampled by more people.

Though Xinyang is on the edge of the arid North China plain, the mountainous southern and western parts, crisscrossed by streams and brooks, have plenty of the clouds and mist needed for good tea. The processed leaves are in fine, taut strips. They make a delicious tea with a chestnut flavour and a long-lasting aftertaste.

This tea has been produced with only very simple equipment. What make it different are the skilful hand movements of rolling, adjusted to the heat and softness or dryness of the tender leaves.

3. Putuo Fo Cha

Mt. Putuo, rising like a mirage out of the sea, is one of the three hundred islands of the Zhoushan Archipelago just outside the Yangtze estuary. It is a famous Buddhist retreat and one of China's four mountains sacred to that faith. Legend has it that the bodhisattva Guanyin meditated and preached there before attaining enlightenment.

The island and its three hundred temples are maintained chiefly by monks, who grow fruit and other produce Puto Fo Cha, held to be one of the five most famous in China. Served to guests, it is sold only on the island, and is highly prized as souvenir gift. It is reputed to be a remedy for diarrhoea and lung lesions. The great Ming dynasty pharmacologist Li Shizhen wrote in his Canon of Medicinal Herbs that it was used to treat haemorrhages and dysentery.

The glossy green finished leaves are tadpole shaped, and this clear tea has an invigorating, fresh aroma.

So the next time that you buy your green tea, why not try out a specific variety.

Everything about Longjing Tea

The legend of Longjing Tea
Named after the region, Dragon Well (Longjing) has been appreciated as the crown of green teas for about one thousand years. Prized above all other green teas, it is the pinnacle of teas.

Longjing Tea owns this reputation by virtue of its brilliant, clean, fresh green taste. It has beautiful color, elegant shape, fine fragrance, and an exceptional taste.

Hangzhou, the region where Longjing Tea is grown, enjoys renown, as the province of China's most beautiful women. This magnificent region abounds in legend, poetry, exquisite gardens and its masterpiece-Dragon Well Tea.

How to brew the Nice Longjing Tea
To brew the perfect cup of Longjing Tea you will want to use slightly cooler water than you would for your typical tea. The water used to brew Longjing Tea should be between 140 degrees F and 190 degrees F. The higher the quality of Longjing Tea is, the cooler water is used, and the shorter the brewing time is needed. Longjing Tea typical use one teaspoon per cup of water and can also be steeped multiple times. You can typically steep a single serving of Longjing Tea leaves two to three times before discarding.

How to Choose Longjing Tea
The original Dragon Well Tea came from Lion Peak Mountain in West Lake (Xi Hu). Due to its popularity, Dragon Well Tea is now cultivated throughout China. Today any tea that is produced using the same technique is called Longjing.

Three Points to Teach You the Way to Choose Longjing Tea

To know when the tea is picked:
The best Dragon Well Tea is gathered several days before Qingming (Pure Brightness, 5th solar term) when new twigs have just begun to grow and carry "one leaf and a bud." To make one kilogram (2.2lb) of finished tea, 60, 000 tender leaves have to be plucked. In the old days Dragon Well tea of this grade was meant solely for the imperial household; it was, therefore, known as "tribute tea". That is one of the many reasons why Dragon Well Tea is so precious. Dragon Well Tea can only be produced for 6 weeks a year. A good tea picker can harvest only 2 kilograms of fresh leaves in 10 hour a day.

To know the way and how much time to roast the tea:
Once the tea shoots are harvested, they must be roasted the same day. After picking the tea is "withered", the tea is spread thinly to dry for 8 to 10 hours to remove moisture and reduce any grassy or bitter flavor. Once the tea is sufficiently dried, it is "Roasted". Roaster usually uses bare hands to roast tea to feel his work. It is an extremely hot job and takes novices many years to harden their hands so that they do not feel the heat. Watching an experienced roaster dry the tea is like watching a martial art master. It takes a novice over 5 years to master 10 hand required movements to dry the tea. A master roaster can only fry 1 kilogram of high grade Longjing Tea each day. After roasting, the freshly processed Dragon Well tea is ready to drink.

Aroma also is one of the most important factors in judging the quality of a kind of tea.
By putting 3 grams worth of leaves into 100 milliliters of boiled water, people can judge the quality of the tea by the smell. Dragon Well Tea is pan fried, so it has a delicious chestnut aroma which should be high, and lasting. The brewed tea is floral with an exceptionally long sweet aftertaste. Lesser teas often taste weak, grassy, or bitter.

High quality Dragon Well Tea will never have these features. The easy way to buy a West Lake variety is to ask for an authenticity certificate. This won't guarantee its authenticity, as tea gardens often sell fake tea with the certificates they have been issued. If possible it is always best to purchase tea at an actual tea plantation.

Losing Your Weight with Long Jing Tea

Your body’s natural phenomenon is disturbed when you adapt any of the methods that claim to give you a natural weight loss easily and in a much shorter span of time.

Fats, starch & cholesterol accumulate in our body and increase the weight mass index. This makes us look like we have gained a lot of fat muscles.

The best way to loose weight is to give your body something healthy and natural which does not produce any side-effects. Although, there is nothing that beats brisk walking as it is considered to be one of the most easiest & effective method to loose weight. But in today’s hectic scenario nobody has time & patience for such activities. So, what would be an alternate solution? I would not say this is an alternate solution but yes, a much better and natural way to loose weight in lesser time.

Drink tea. You have heard it right. But you might be wondering that it is again a most common thing to suggest, go for a green tea to loose weight. Both pure and light in flavors heavenly in aromas and teeming with healthy nutrients; Green Tea is something for the eyes, nose, mouth and body. I am revealing a great secret here.

Green tea comes in large varieties and each variety is rated based on its availability, flavor, taste, popularity, health & fitness benefits and much more. Green tea, a famous range of Chinese tea variety is what lot of people might know. But not many people know all of the varieties of this tea. Green tea’s most popular variety Long Jing Tea, is the secret I was talking about. Its one of the Top 10 varieties of Chinese green tea and the quality is notably very high but it does not come from the more famous West-Lake region and therefore does not command the same high price.

Scientific studies show that Long Jing Tea contains high levels of caffeine and EGCG - the two compounds responsible for green tea weight loss effects. However, contrary to the fact that caffeine stimulates nerves, a rather high quality Long Jing tea has a soothing effect on the body nerves that makes it relaxed and helps burn fat tissues easily. The Long Jing variety has a smooth green color & it has a subtle aroma.

Again, the quality of tea matters a lot here. There are lots of fake Long Jing varieties available in the market that may not produce the desired results for your body. But if you choose to buy a high grade quality of the tea, it sure has the positive effects and you can yourself see loosing weight within 6 weeks of regular consumption.

Long Jing Tea

Long Jing Tea, as in the name, is an exotic variety of green tea that has long leaves. The name long jing is infact derived from the word dragon well. In fact Long Jing literally means the dragon well.

Long Jing is often considered as the national drink of China, because of its rich quality and great taste. Unlike other green teas, long jing tea leaves are not fermented (dried).They are steamed that results in a light yellow and greenish color, a gentle aroma and a rich flavor that makes it an absolute delightful drink.

I am sure green tea lovers must have tried this variety but if not yet, then you must go for it. It is something worth trying. Infact, in China, Long Jing Tea is often served as an important part of beverage to visiting heads of the state. Such is the status of this royal tea.

Talking about royal, long jing tea was indeed granted the status of imperial tea by a Chinese emperor Kangxi. History tells that Kangxi’s grandson visited West Lake, where he was presented with the cup of long jing tea. He was so impressed by the tea that he conferred it the imperial status for all the long jing tea plantations.

Well, coming back to the present, today long jing tea is mostly consumed by health conscious people as it is very effective in loosing weight. So, long jing tea is a great choice for people looking for combination of health and taste in their beverages.