Meng Ding is the name of a particular mountain and area in the Mingshan district of Ya’An City, Sichuan (Western China, close to Tibet). Gan Lu means sweet dew. So.. all together Meng Ding Gan Lu is the ‘sweet dew of Meng Ding’ a green tea which skirts the fine lines between savory and sweet; wet and dry.
To speak to the teas aroma, it’s very familiar to me. I would compare it mostly to cooked yellow lentils. For some less acquainted to lentils, it’s similar to roasted chicken with a crispy skin. It’s a bit sulfur-y in the same vein that cooked eggs can be. It’s savory like toasted pumpkin seeds while being sweet like pistachio nuts. Behind all the savory aromas are sweet aromas of spring air, napa cabbage, and a seaweedy lime note. Over all I would say the aroma is in a soup brothy category.
Flavor wise it is sweet and vegetal. I associate it with the flavor of napa cabbage most closely, although it is a touch sweeter than I would typically associate cabbage being. Texturally it sits on the heavier side of an average green tea. It has a cooling but decidedly dry finish due to its passive astringency, flavors in the finish touch on cucumber and pumpkin seeds.
This is a wonderful example of high quality green tea from off the beaten path. If you’re going to compare prices of tea against each other I think it’s worth considering that after a certain point its not about quality any more. The price quickly inflates based on its perceived worthiness due to fame. Meng Ding tea has been famous since the inception of tea as a beverage during the Tang Dynasty. By international standards though, I would say hardly anyone knows about it.
Since this year is such a mess with the quarantine and general uncertainty. I decided to only bring in a kilogram of this tea with samples of green tea from elsewhere which I can consider to stock should the opportunity present itself. Based on relative price, this is the best deal you’ll find for green tea sold in Canada. It’s unfortunately a bit expensive because I have to pay in USD and .. well the USD is quite strong right now. The point I am trying to get at is: any other green tea I’ll stock will be at least double the price of this, their price being based off fame, which may or may not be useful to the consumer whom doesn’t know or care about that.
Sichuan is one of the provinces in China where tea really ‘began’. Sichuan and Yunnan are areas within the geographic region from which the tea bush originates (shared by Nepal, Myanmar, North Eastern India, Laos, Northern Thailand, Northern Vietnam) Tea producers in the area have been excellent at its production circa 800 A.D.
There were 2 kingdoms in the area between 770-221 BC called Ba and Shu. Meng Ding is just a bit Southwest from where the kingdom of Shu was.
In those days tea was already present in the area, its just unlikely that it was consumed as an infused liquid drink. It cant be proven that tea as we know it today existed before Lu Yu wrote his ‘Classic of Tea’ in the year 762. In texts before ‘the classic of tea’ tea was probably consumed and recorded but its name was vague and shared with other herbs which grew in those areas. Lu Yu was the one to establish that this particular herb and no other is ‘cha’
It’s mentioned in the famous ‘Ode to Sencha’ written by the Japanese monk Gettan Douchou in his book ‘Manuscript of a Rock dweller’ in 1703 in which he states
“Ever Since Lu Yu loved tea,
It was planted everywhere throughout the Tang Dynasty.
Meng Ding and Jiangxi are the two best varieties of tea;
Wuyi and Guzhu are also famous”
