Verdant Tea

2023 Reserve Pine Needle Green

2023 Reserve Pine Needle Green

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He Qingqing's Favorite Green Tea
Qingqing developed this unique finish with her father to bring out minerality and spice in her family's tea. Early harvest with notes of edamame, coriander, watermelon and butter.
Qingqing developed this unique finish with her father to bring out minerality and spice in her family's tea. The fresh 2023 harvest is picking soon and available for pre-order!
April 2023 ♦ Laoshan, Shandong
He Qingqing's Favorite Green Tea
Qingqing developed this unique finish with her father to bring out minerality and spice in her family's tea. Early harvest with notes of edamame, coriander, watermelon and butter.
Qingqing developed this unique finish with her father to bring out minerality and spice in her family's tea. The fresh 2023 harvest is picking soon and available for pre-order!
April 2023 ♦ Laoshan, Shandong
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SPRING 2023 PRE-ORDER

This spring 2023 pre-order tea from the He Family in Laoshan is available to reserve on pre-order while supplies last.

This tea is arriving now and shipping in within the next week!

Crafted By the He Family

Pioneers and community leaders, the He Family is dedicated to making a name for their stunningly smooth, malty, rich teas cultivated in China’s coldest, northernmost growing region.
 
Grown using old-school organic farming techniques on the rocky foothills of Laoshan, protected by ocean mist and fed by sweet spring water.
    • DATE OF PICKINGApril 2023
    • Laoshan VillageShandong Province
    • ELEVATIONSEA LEVEL
    • Longjing QuntiTea Varietal

    Mr. He’s daughter Qingqing, co-owner of Verdant Tea, pioneered this finishing style with her father. She loves the long delicate twisting technique for the way the leaves dance in a glass pitcher as they unfold yielding a delicate nuanced brew that lasts over multiple steepings. The hand pulled and twisted finish on this early shade-grown reserve harvest shows off the delicate deep-green buds that the family picks with so much care, cultivating with sustainable chemical free farming, and fed by sweet mountain spring water.

  • true
    90
    semolina, butter, macadamia
    true
    75
    edamame
    true
    45
    minerality, coriander
    true
    35
    watermelon
    false
    true
    juicy, thick

    Tasting Profile

    • savory - semolina, butter, macadamia
    • vegetal - edamame
    • spice - minerality, coriander
    • fruit - watermelon
    • texture - juicy, thick

The He Family also recommends:

  1. Reserve Flat Pressed Laoshan Green
    Reserve Flat Pressed Laoshan Green

    This special hand picked, hand made tea was picked this year during the early shage-grown spring harvest in mid-April, with the He Family's greenhouse protection against the cold of Laoshan's unique northern climate. With the greenhouse protection still in place, the tea plants grow slowly for textural intensity and sweetness unique to shade-grown tea. The flat-pressing process that Mr. He uses to finish this fresh spring harvest is inspired by Dragonwell green tea. In fact, Laoshan tea was originally brought to the area from Dragonwell, so for this cultivar, flat-pressing is a return to its origins. The day-long labor-intensive process to finish this delicate tea makes for beautiful leaves to brew in glass. The flavor is lighter but the aroma and sweetness more pronounced with flat-pressing.

  2. 2023 Spring Reserve Laoshan Green
    2023 Spring Reserve Laoshan Green

    A mild winter and cool spring has made for a beautiful early harvest of shade-grown Reserve Laoshan Green. These sweet and delicates buds and leaves are picked while still under greenhouse protection in the He Family’s ocean-facing plot at the foot of the Laoshan mountains. The early April picking is still intensely sweet and packed with deep minerality.

  3. 2021 Laoshan Pine Needle Green
    2021 Laoshan Pine Needle Green

    Long slender hand-twisted leaves picked in early spring from organic cultivation rocky fields. Mr. He only makes his green tea loose leaf so that people can appreciate the craft and beauty of his finishing technique. The flavor is delicate, mineral-driven and sweet through every steeping thanks to the careful hand-finishing, cold northern climate, and innovative growing techniques.

Spring 2023 Update from the Fields

Cold weather in Laoshan means smaller yields, and a long season of shade-grown covered green tea before the protective greenhouse coverings come down. 

A very mild spring with very little rainfall has made for particularly concentrated creamy textural green tea and black tea. Cool weather persisted longer than usual, which kept protective shaded coverings on through April. This meant slow growth, but particularly tender sweet buds.

Not only is He Qingqing busy helping her parents finish this spring's fresh tea, but she and her husband are also celebrating the arrival of their son Liu Mu-Mu, just a few months old and already helping with the fresh Flat Pressed Laoshan Green.

Congratulations to the He Family for a wonderful spring season!

Liu Jiaqi with her brother Mu Mu
making Reserve Flat Pressed Laoshan green
fresh 2023 Laoshan tea leaves
spring 2023 Laoshan tea plants
brewing fresh Laoshan green tea
fresh picked Laoshan tea buds

photos courtesy of He Qingqing, April 2023

  • 'Thankfully 2019-2020 was a mild winter compared to the last two years, meaning that the plants in China’s northernmost tea growing region did not suffer frost damage. The He Family's plants have been able to recover, and this new recovery growth has been rich and tender, a boon for the He Family after so many difficult years.'

  • 5
    6-8
    175
    20 seconds
    10
    5
    6
    175
    5 seconds
    4
    5
    12
    76
    8 hours

    Steeping Instructions

    Western

    5 g.6-8
    oz.
    use 175° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
    add 10 sec. each infusion

    Gongfu

    5 g.6 ozuse 175° watersteep 5 seconds
    add 4 sec. per steeping
    enjoy many steepings

    Iced/Cold

    5 g.12
    oz.
    use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
    8 hours
    add ice & enjoy

Product Photo Gallery

Liu Jiaqi with her brother Mu Mu
making Reserve Flat Pressed Laoshan green
fresh 2023 Laoshan tea leaves
spring 2023 Laoshan tea plants
brewing fresh Laoshan green tea
fresh picked Laoshan tea buds

photos courtesy of He Qingqing, April 2023

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