OUR OFFERINGS - ORGANIC LU AN MELON SEED

Location:  Anhui, China
Altitude:  850-1000 m
Harvest: Early Spring 2008

Characteristics

Body: Juicy, round
Flavor: Pine, fruity
Finish: Bittersweet, floral

Tasting Notes

Organic Lu An Melon Seed has a bright fresh flavor that contrasts nicely with our other China greens. The flavor has gentle notes of fruit with subtle grassy undertones. This tea’s complexity is enhanced with the pine needle notes and the bittersweet, almost perfumed, floral finish. Unlike many early-spring picked greens, the Lu An Melon Seed has a good amount of body and mouth-feel.

Doug's Notes

The harsh winter weather in China this year definitely affected the teas in ways I have never experienced. The early spring teas tended to be a little sweeter but much milder in flavor. After tasting hundreds of green teas, I had a difficult decision to make. The sweetness and complexity caused by the cold weather is great, but teas this delicate have very short shelf lives. Instead, I opted to purchase teas that always have good complexity and buy the lots with the most body and mouth-feel since they tend to age better. Organic Lu An Melon Seed fits the bill.

Lu An County, located in the province of Anhui, has produced this style of green tea for centuries. It was even written about in the famous tea book “The Classic Tea” written by Lu Yu during the 8th century. Lu Yu considered Lu An to be a tea of the highest quality during that time period. Around the turn of the 20th century, the processing of this tea changed a bit, but its popularity never dwindled. In fact, during the 1980’s the China Tea Board placed it on its list of most famous Chinese teas. Admittedly the list was a marketing gimmick to sell China teas abroad but it worked. Nearly every book written about China tea makes a reference to Lu An Melon Seed and sings its praises.

Despite its fame among tea drinkers, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit I had never had this style of tea before last year. I instantly loved the emerald green leaves and to me the flavor was very similar to some of the obscenely expensive China greens that I had tasted in the past. I was shocked to see that this style of tea doesn’t contain any buds from the plant. It’s only made from the leaf of the plant, which makes sense when you consider the name “Melon Seed” refers to the shape of the infused leaf.

With China producing thousands of styles green teas every year, it never fails to amaze me how different and unique they can be. I hope to continue to purchase tea that celebrates the diversity of tea. Organic Lu An Melon Seed is definitely a great example.