Part 1) Facts: (What, Where, and How)

Xinyang Mao Jian ‘ Xinyang Fur Tip’ is a green tea made in the South Eastern alcove of Henan Province in China. Xinyang tea refers to products made in the Xinyang mountain area, more specifically around Xinyang City, Xinyang County, and Luo Shan County. Quality tea production in the Xinyang mountains started taking off in the 20^th century as China grew more prosperous and inter-provincial travel became more common.

In the early 20th century, tea manufacturers from Xinyang traveled South to study tea production in Hangzhou (where the famous Long Jing ‘Dragon Well’ tea is made) and returned to the North with advanced knowledge in leaf frying and shaping techniques. In 1913 ‘Mao Jian’s’ distinctive shape and style was created. In 1915 it was showcased at the Panama Pacific International Expo, an event celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal. At this event, it won a gold medal in the ‘Agriculture: Food Products’ category. In 1958 it was selected to join the illustrious ‘Top 10 teas of China’, and it remains on several of these Top 10 lists circulating today. Not to detract from the significance of this teas history but the expo thing I just mentioned is funny. A gold medal in that expo meant 3^rd place, with ‘The Medal of Honor’ and ‘The Grand Prize’ being superior. You’ve gotta stay sharp when you read this stuff!

Mao Jian is made by picking the very young spring buds and forming them into a wire-thin, individual leaf, finished product. It takes about 50,000 leaves to make 500g of tea, so each jar sold on this site has approximately 8000 buds, and an average pot uses about 500 leaves. It’s insane really, because if you consider the tea is only deliberately chosen buds and not just whatever happens to be growing on the bush, and you try to factor in how long it might take to pick 500 of these, and then you look at the price of the tea. Something is up. This flavor is too good, the story is too good, the price is too good. This is why other countries struggle to compete with China. I digress…

The fragrance of Xinyang Mao Jian is wonderful. This is partly caused by an abundance of Palmitic and Phthalic acids, a bi-product of its terroir. The soil in the Xinyang mountain area is acidic and mostly sandy loam (with very little clay or silt). The mountains aren’t very tall or jagged, and most farmers tend to plant their tea between 500m and 800m ASL.

This tea was grown on Mt. Cheyun in the west of Xinyang County, approximately an hour’s drive West from Xinyang’s City Center. Mt. Cheyun, along with Mt. Jiyun, and Mt. Tianyun are perhaps the most sought-after terroirs for this tea, they’re at least the most consistent at putting out top-notch stuff, which gives them that reputation. The altitude is approximately 600 meters above sea level. The strangest thing about this mountain is the fog and cloud patterns. The foggy weather lasts for more than 150 days of the year. The fog will not dissipate before 9am, and during its active time it roams the mountainsides like an ominous cotton monster. There is a perpetual white cloud at the peak of the mountain that condenses and rolls down like a wheel.

The rest of the mountains are covered in forest which provides high amounts of organic matter from the decomposing forest leaves. The Xinyang Mountain Area boasts very fertile land with high humidity, cloud cover, and abundant rainfall. Henan is also quite far North, which means average temperatures are colder, and subsequently, the tea bushes will grow slower. Finally, there are 4 clearly divided seasons in a year, giving the bushes a cycle to grow and fall dormant. This ensures the spring harvest after dormancy is full of flavor.

Because of historic weather patterns, tea trees couldn’t practically be pushed Northward of this area. In 1987, archaeologists in the Xinyang area discovered ancient tea in excavated tomb sites and determined that the tea was made here as early as 875 BCE.

Apparently, the dried tea leaves need periodic refreshes of oxygen or the lack of oxygen will trigger a chemical reaction in the compounds this tea is abundant in, which in turn will produce a unique pungent aroma. I don’t know about that, but if it’s true, I am looking forward to discovering it.

This tea was picked on March ^27th 2024 which puts it in the Pre-Qing Ming category of quality. To learn more about what that means you can follow this link: https://www.sommerier.com/?p=2884

Part 2) Tea Flavor Exploration, Experiments, Suggestions, and Notes.

I was excited to get this tea back into the shop. I’ve only done one round of tasting so far to come up with some simple notes for discussion. I’d say the flavor is herbaceous, existing somewhere between Thai basil and fennel, my mind eventually wandered to tarragon. It’s got a steamy simple vegetal base, similar to napa cabbage. The sweetness in the aroma is akin to corn, especially creamed corn, while the flavor has some notes of sweet but sour cream ala creme fraiche. I’ve saved a package of 2021 maojian to compare with this years; it has been in the freezer unopened for 3 years straight. My wife will be glad it’s gone. I digress, I brought this tea in because it’s excellent value for money. It’s among the top tier of specialty green tea in quality, but it cannot quite do what scary fragrance does.

In my previous article for this tea years ago, I wrote the following:

Grade and Provenance:
This is a She Qian Harvest of Xinyang Mao Jian from Cheyunshan (Mt. Cheyun), Xinyang, Henan, China
Harvest Date: March 15th, 2021

Sensory Profile:
Roasted Soybean Flour (Kinako) Ice Cream, Fennel, Chiffon Cake, Almond Slivers