Its name literally means ‘Spring Jade Snail‘ and derives from its delicate spiral shape reminiscent of a snail house. The infusion has a fairly rich flavour profile in which vegetable nuances with a mineral tone such as can be heard in spinach and courgettes also emerge. The sweet trait of this tea can mainly be felt on the palate and is reminiscent of the sweetness of some exotic fruits among which a slightly unripe banana taste stands out in particular.
Place of origin
Dongting Mountain, Jiangsu, China
Production
This is a very classic process which, after an initial withering in the open air, involves cooking the leaves in ovens heated to around 180°C.
Brewing method
We highly recommend infusing this tea in the traditional Chinese method (gong fu cha) to best enjoy these leaves. Following this preparation you can use 4.5 grams of leaves (about 3 teaspoons) in a gaiwan of about 100 ml to obtain several infusions with different tastes. After a quick rinse of the leaves in water at 80°C, an initial infusion of 10 seconds can be made, after which, keeping the water at the same temperature, multiple infusions can be made, each time increasing the time by 5 seconds (10 – 15 – 20…).
This tea has a longevity of about 5 infusions.
For a classic preparation according to the western style we recommend 3 grams of leaves (approx. 2 teaspoons) in a 150 ml cup with water at 80°C for an infusion time of one and a half minutes.
Tea can be filtered for an easier tasting and also the infusion times mentioned above are purely indicative therefore it can be adjusted according to one’s personal taste.
Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.