Huangshan Maofeng Green Tea

Huangshan Maofeng means Yellow Mountain fur peak, for the fine white down on its leaves and their peak-like shape. This Anhui green tea is clean and gently sweet, with orchid, chestnut, sweet grass and a mineral finish. Brewed in a glass teapot at 82°C.

Origin & Story

Maofeng means fur peak. The small buds of this tea are covered in fine white hairs, and when the leaves are processed they take a shape like a mountain peak, which gave the tea its name: Huangshan Maofeng, Yellow Mountain fur peak. The leaves are often compared to orchid buds.

It grows around Huangshan, the Yellow Mountain in southern Anhui. The modern tea is credited to Xie Zhengan, a merchant who opened the Xie Yu Tai tea shop in Shexian County and, in 1875, began promoting this tea. He lived from 1838 to 1910, and Maofeng is now counted among China's best-known green teas.

The best Maofeng is picked in early spring, before the Qingming festival, when the shoots are small and tender. It is a quiet tea, and the reward is in the details: a clean, gently sweet cup with orchid, a toasted chestnut note, sweet grass and a mineral finish like cool spring water.

One common guide is 5 g of leaf in 200 ml of water at 82°C for two minutes. This page uses a lighter 3 g in 240 ml at the same temperature, steeped for a minute and a half to two and a half minutes, in a glass teapot so you can see the leaves open.

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