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 20th 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 3rd 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 22nd 2021 which puts it in the Pre-Qing Ming category of Ming Qian. To learn more about what that means you can follow this link: https://www.sommerier.com/?p=2884
2) Somewhat Less Professional, more me, more relevant? (The Why)
It’s ironic that I’ve drank Chinese tea professionally for 5 years and am still able to discover famous ones ‘frequently on the top 10 lists’ that I’ve somehow glossed over. Tea that so famous that is supposed to be perpetually in front of one’s eyes and at the front of one’s mind when considering what to buy each year. Here’s how I woke up.
I reached out to many people in the tea community with the hopes of finding a new Jin Jun Mei for this shop because my previous source dried up. I was in a bind. Since shipping is at least $30 to Canada, I wanted to make each incoming parcel more worthwhile, so I asked each source to send me some other teas that I could try, they could be anything. “I’m open to trying new things, the more off the beaten path the better.”
When I opened the shipping box from one company, I reached in the inspect the contents. Mao Jian A? Hum… Mao Jian B? 2 Mao Jian’s? What the hell is Mao Jian? I put them aside. The rest of the parcel was familiar: Bi Luo Chun, OK, Long Jing’s A, B, and C, OK, Huangshan Mao Feng, OK. I organized/tossed the teas in my ‘sample bin’ and eagerly broke the seal on Mao Jian A.
*Eyes wide open* YOOOOO wtf is this!? I measured out a pot’s worth of tea and started an official tasting session. I often say to people that you can tell almost all you need to know about a teas quality just by the dry leaf. Tasting it should be enjoyable and serve to confirm your initial assessment. My initial assessment again: *Eyes wide open* YOOOOO wtf is this!? Confirmed.
I was thinking: this is going to be ridiculously expensive – prohibitively expensive. When I request samples, I ask not to see the prices because I don’t want to have a bias during tasting, if there’s something I like in a lot, I’ll follow up. God – this sample is AMAZING. It’s SO VIVID, it paints such an imaginative mental picture. It stitches together so many personal scent memories in such a novel, unorthodox way. It’s very Chinese. I made an Instagram post about that already.
I’ll move on for now. I finished with Mao Jian A and thought, ok, Mao Jian B can’t be this good. I was so excited. You guys probably have no idea what it takes for me to get excited about tea anymore. Drinking tea as I do for so many hours a day, it’s exhausting, joyless work (most of the time)
MAO JIAN B! I was so ready. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had a prejudice: it was going to be inferior. I opened the package. Very different color, very different aroma. Much less pekoe than the first, my thought was: ok, so this is probably picked a couple of weeks later. I measured the tea out and started another session.
*drumroll*
This is the perfect green tea. Am I high or something? I couldn’t possibly have 2 great teas like this in a row to start off the day? Something is up, time to go to an arbiter: My wife – oh man she is picky as hell. Chinese green tea? No way. Too flowery, too fruity, too whatever – there’s always something wrong with it. At its best, it’s acceptable and she’ll drink it if it’s made and I’m going to pour it out.
I’ll give her this tea, she’ll tell me she doesn’t like it, and balance will be restored to the world.
*drumroll*
She loved it. It’s the first time ever!
“Japanese right?”
*I shake my head*
“masaka (it means no way!) …Chinese?”
*I nod my head*
MAO JIAN BABY, GETTTTTTTTTTERDONE
‘Mao Jian A’, which I’ve called ‘Xinyang Mao Jian She Qian Harvest’ on this site, is a mindfuck of flavor and fragrance, with a harmony that you just don’t get to experience very often. If you brew it strongly in a clay pot, the tea gives off fragrances similar to 5-Spice, Toasted Rice Powder (it’s a Vietnamese thing), and Sencha. My brain forms so many aroma objects surrounding Chinese cooking, maybe Peking Duck would be the closest intact aroma to how it smells. If you brew it on the lighter side, it has a mild sweetness with very subtle hints of fennel and toasted pumpkin seeds. I’ve found temperature to be a significant factor in making this tea taste great. Lower is better.
‘Mao Jian B’, which I’ve called ‘Xinyang Mao Jian Ming Qian Harvest’ on this site, is a perfect green tea. It should be a quintessential green tea in someone’s line-up. If you haven’t thought ‘holy shit GREEN TEA!’ before, Mao Jian B should be something on your shortlist of things to try. The best part? It’s cheaper. It’s cheap! IT’S SO CHEAP. This flavor shouldn’t be anywhere NEAR this price. This is in the 0.05% of the best tea on the planet for sure, and it’s SO CHEAP, I can’t believe it. For real. If the shipping to Canada wasn’t so bloody expensive I’d be giving it away — I would be this teas biggest ambassador.
I thought I was done being surprised. I’m old they (my daughter) said, I’m grizzled and done they (nobody) said. I don’t know when I’m going to feel like this about tea again. It’s been… Maybe since 2017 when I had my last comparable experience. You need to try these. Either one, or both, probably both.
Part 3) Tea Flavor Exploration, Experiments, Suggestions, and Notes.
(This section is essentially finished, I just have to write it up. Hopefully I will get to it soon)
