2023 Reserve Pine Needle Green
Green Tea
He Family – Laoshan
Crafted By the He Family
- 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.
- DATE OF PICKINGApril 2023
Tasting Profile
- savory - semolina, butter, macadamia
- vegetal - edamame
- spice - minerality, coriander
- fruit - watermelon
- texture - juicy, thick
The He Family also recommends:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
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.'
Steeping Instructions
Western
5 g.6-8
oz.use 175° watersteep 20 secondsresteep many times
add 10 sec. each infusionGongfu
5 g.6 ozuse 175° watersteep 5 seconds
add 4 sec. per steepingenjoy many steepingsIced/Cold
5 g.12
oz.use room temp. waterrefrigerate overnight
8 hoursadd ice & enjoy
Product Photo Gallery
photos courtesy of He Qingqing, April 2023
